Former Lands Official Jailed for Defrauding Uganda Railways of Land
KAMPALA – The Anti-Corruption Court has handed down a three-year prison sentence to a former Ministry of Lands official for masterminding a scheme to illegally acquire and sell prime land belonging to the Uganda Railways Corporation (URC).
Mr. Ateng Francis, who served as the Principal Assistant Secretary at the Ministry’s Lira Zonal Office, was convicted on eleven counts, including abuse of office, fraudulent procurement of a certificate of title, forgery, uttering false documents, and conspiracy to commit a felony.
The court found that in January 2018, Ateng exploited his official position to defraud URC. Evidence presented showed he facilitated the irregular issuance of a special certificate of title, orchestrated the sub-division and allocation of the land, and identified brokers to sell it to private buyers. The entire process blatantly bypassed legal procedures for the disposal of government property.
In a bold move to legitimize the fraud, Ateng and his accomplices forged the signature of the then Managing Director of URC and used the falsified documents to complete the illegal transfer and sale.
This conviction is part of a broader crackdown. One of Ateng’s co-accused, Ocen Joseph, had already pleaded guilty to the same charges and was sentenced to two years in prison.
The investigations leading to these convictions were initiated by a direct Presidential Directive in 2022, which ordered the State House Anti-Corruption Unit (@AntiGraft), in collaboration with the Criminal Investigations Directorate (@CID1_UG) and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (@ODPPUGANDA), to investigate and prosecute all individuals involved in the systemic plunder of Uganda Railways Corporation’s land assets.
This sentencing is being hailed as a significant victory in the government’s ongoing fight against high-level corruption and the theft of public assets.
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