SHACU Nails Lira Officials Over Land, are sentenced
KAMPALA. The Anti-Corruption Court today convicted and sentenced two senior Lira District officials for illegally selling government land through fraudulent title issuance today in Kampala.
Ocen Joseph Alwong, Senior Land Management Officer, received four years imprisonment while Opio Francis, District Staff Surveyor, received three years imprisonment today in court.
The pair entered a plea bargain admitting full guilt before sentencing, prompting the court to impose reduced but still custodial prison terms for offences today.
They were arrested and charged in 2024 following joint investigations by State House Anti-Corruption Unit, Criminal Investigations Directorate and Office of Director of Public Prosecutions.
Between February 2019 and October 2020, officials deliberately abused their offices facilitating irregular issuance of freehold title for district-owned prime land illegally today.
Prosecutors told court the freehold title for Plot 19 Ben Emor Road Ireda Estate Lira was fraudulently issued in Alwong’s young daughter’s name illegally.
Authorities had falsely claimed the daughter was a customary owner yet official records confirmed the parcel actually belonged to Lira District Local Government completely.
This latest conviction follows an earlier separate judgment where both men previously received three and four years respectively on similar corruption-related government property charges.
The presiding judge warned that public officers who conspire to defraud government of valuable land will face firm imprisonment to deter future corruption and impunity.
Anti-corruption officials said the sentencing signals renewed national commitment to protect all public assets and ensure strict accountability among local government land officers nationwide today.
