Lands Official Convicted over Railway Land Fraud
KAMPALA. The Anti-Corruption Court has convicted Mr. Ateng Francis, former Principal Assistant Secretary at the Ministry of Lands, Lira Zonal Office, on eleven counts related to the fraudulent sale of Uganda Railways Corporation (URC) land.
The charges include abuse of office, forgery, uttering false documents, and conspiracy to commit a felony. Mr. Ateng has been remanded until November 7, 2025, for sentencing.
The court found that in January 2018, Ateng Francis, while employed at the Ministry of Lands, abused his authority to defraud URC.
He illegally facilitated the issuance of a special certificate of title, arranged the separation and allocation of the land, and sold it to private individuals. Crucially, these actions bypassed the required procedures for disposing of government property.
Ateng and his co-accused further forged the signatures of the then URC Managing Director on documents used to transfer and sell the land.
One of his co-accused, Ocen Joseph, previously pleaded guilty to the same charges and received a two-year custodial sentence.
These successful investigations followed a 2022 directive from H.E. the President to the Anti-Corruption Court, in collaboration with CID and ODPP, to investigate and prosecute all individuals involved in attempts to sell Uganda Railways property.
