The Anti-Corruption Court has convicted and sentenced Francis Ateng, former Principal Assistant Secretary at the Ministry of Lands’ Lira Zonal Office, to three years’ imprisonment on eleven counts, including abuse of office, fraudulent procurement of a certificate of title, forgery, uttering false documents, and conspiracy to commit a felony.
In January 2018, while employed at the Ministry of Lands in Lira District, Ateng, together with others, abused his authority to defraud Uganda Railways Corporation (URC) of its land.
Prosecution told the court that Ateng facilitated the irregular issuance of a special certificate of title, orchestrated the separation and allocation of the land, identified brokers, and sold it to private individuals without following government disposal procedures.
Ateng and his co-accused also forged the signatures of the then Managing Director of URC to produce false documents used in the land transfer and sale.
One of Ateng’s co-accused, Joseph Ocen, had previously pleaded guilty to the same charges and received a custodial sentence of two years.
These investigations followed a directive issued by President Yoweri Museveni in 2022 to the Anti-Corruption Directorate, in collaboration with the Criminal Investigations Directorate and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, to investigate corruption within Uganda Railways Corporation and prosecute those involved in defrauding it of land.
