Otuke, Uganda | August 5, 2025 — In a major breakthrough against public funds misappropriation, three individuals have been charged in connection with the theft of over UGX 1.5 billion earmarked for cattle compensation in Otuke District. The suspects were arraigned this afternoon before the Otuke Magistrate’s Court following a joint operation by the State House Anti-Corruption Unit (@AntiGraft_SH), the Criminal Investigations Directorate (@CID1_UG), and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (@ODPPUGANDA).
The accused include:
Akasa Jimmy Mokili, a politician and businessman from Agago District,
Okengo Jaspher, LCIII Chairperson of Ogor Sub-county in Otuke, and
Sgt. Amoni Benz (alias Okengo Bonny), a serving member of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF).
They face charges of theft and conspiracy to defraud beneficiaries of the government’s cattle compensation programme, which is meant to compensate individuals—primarily elderly victims—who lost livestock during the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) insurgency and the Karamoja cattle raids.
According to investigators, the suspects, along with others still at large, manipulated the registration and bank account opening processes to access confidential banking details of the victims. These were then used to either withdraw the full government compensation payouts without the beneficiaries’ knowledge or to hand over only a fraction of the entitled sums.
Authorities say the fraud has so far cost Otuke District more than UGX 1.5 billion, and similar schemes are being investigated across the Lango, Acholi, and Teso sub-regions, potentially exposing a much larger network of corruption.
The three suspects have been remanded until August 19, 2025, as investigations continue.
The government’s cattle compensation programme has long been viewed as a critical restorative measure for communities devastated by decades of conflict and cattle raids. The emerging revelations of large-scale theft now threaten to undermine trust in public institutions and the delivery of justice to affected citizens.
