Members of Parliament have grilled officials of the Generating Growth Opportunities and Productivity for Women Enterprises (GROW) project over delays in disbursing funds, with MPs saying thousands of women have registered and opened bank accounts but are still waiting for financial support.
The Public Accounts Committee, chaired by MP Patrick Oshabe Nsamba, raised the concerns as officials appeared before the committee to respond to queries arising from the Auditor General’s report.
Bunyaruguru MP Benjamin Cadet told the committee that more than 30,000 women in Rubirizi District had been mobilised and registered through Centenary Bank, but had received no money more than two years later.
“The women came, walked, used boda bodas, opened bank accounts, and for over two years, nothing,” Cadet said.
He said the women had been given hope that they would receive funds to grow their businesses, with some spending their own money to open bank accounts.
Cadet said the situation had left women frustrated and questioning why they were mobilised if the money was not going to reach them.
The complaints were echoed by other MPs, who said women in Kabarole, Busia and Kagadi had also struggled to access GROW funds.
Officials acknowledged that some beneficiaries had faced difficulties, particularly in dealing with participating financial institutions.
GROW Project Coordinator Dr Ruth Aisha Kasolo said some women in Kabarole had been told by banks that the money was unavailable, while others in Busia had reportedly given up because accessing the funds had become “a nightmare.”
She also said some women in Kagadi had not received the funds.
In one case, an MP told the committee that women in her district only began accessing the money after she invited GROW officials to explain the programme to them.
Kasolo said some women had initially submitted their documents to Pride Bank but needed them returned so they could apply through Centenary Bank, which she said was more flexible.
The committee demanded beneficiary lists from the project to establish exactly who has received the money.
Officials told MPs that in Kagadi, Centenary Bank had disbursed 53 loans, Pearl Bank eight, Pride two and UGAFORD 14.
MPs also questioned GROW officials over the project’s financial position, particularly funds received from the World Bank and the amounts actually disbursed to women.
Officials told the committee that Shs75.4 billion was received from the World Bank in 2025, while about Shs76 billion had been disbursed under the relevant component.
They explained that funds received by the project cover different components, including women’s loans, grants and operational costs, and therefore cannot all be treated as money directly available for women borrowers.
The GROW project is a government programme funded by the World Bank and implemented by the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development and the Private Sector Foundation Uganda. Its objective is to help women entrepreneurs grow from micro to small and medium enterprises.
However, MPs said the key issue was whether the money was actually reaching the women the programme was designed to support.
Committee chairperson Patrick Nsamba warned that the problem goes beyond GROW, saying government projects are often created with the intention of creating jobs and improving livelihoods, but ordinary citizens sometimes fail to benefit.
The committee directed GROW officials to provide detailed beneficiary and disbursement records to enable MPs to scrutinise the programme and establish where the delays
