The Anti-Corruption Court has convicted and sentenced Mr. Francis Ateng , the former Principal Assistant Secretary at the Ministry of Lands’ Lira Zonal Office to three years in prison on multiple charges, including abuse of office, fraudulent procurement of a certificate of title, forgery, uttering false documents and conspiracy to commit a felony.
According to court documents, the offenses occurred in January 2018 while Ateng was employed at the Ministry of Lands’ Zonal Office in Lira District.
“The accused, together with others, abused their authority with the intention of defrauding Uganda Railways Corporation (URC) of its land,” the court statement reads.
“He facilitated the irregular issuance of a special certificate of title, arranged for the separation and allocation of the said land, identified brokers, and sold the land to private individuals without following the procedures for disposing of government property,” court noted.
The court further noted that Ateng and his co-accused forged the signature of the then Managing Director of URC, using it to utter false documents that facilitated the transfer and sale of the land.
One of Ateng’s co-accused, Ocen Joseph, had earlier pleaded guilty on the same charges and was sentenced to two years in prison.
The investigations into this land fraud case followed a directive issued by H.E. the President in 2022, tasking the Anti-Corruption Division in collaboration with the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) to investigate corruption within Uganda Railways Corporation.
“The directive called for the prosecution of all individuals involved in defrauding Uganda Railways Corporation of its land,” court records state.
