By The Anti-Corruption Court has convicted Mr. Francis Ateng, the former Principal Assistant Secretary at the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development in the Lira Zonal Office, on 11 counts related to corruption and abuse of office.
Ateng was found guilty of abuse of office, fraudulent procurement of a land title, forgery, uttering false documents, and conspiracy to commit a felony, among other offences. He has been remanded until November 7, 2025, when the court will deliver his sentence.
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According to prosecution, Ateng, while serving at the Ministry’s Lira Zonal Office in January 2018, conspired with others to defraud the Uganda Railways Corporation (URC) of its land. He reportedly facilitated the issuance of a special certificate of title, subdivided the land, identified brokers, and sold the property to private individuals without following lawful procedures for disposing of government assets.
Court further heard that Ateng and his accomplices forged the signature of the then URC Managing Director, which they used to issue falsified transfer and sale documents for the land.
One of his co-accused, Mr. Joseph Ocen, earlier pleaded guilty to similar charges and was sentenced to two years in prison.
The conviction follows investigations initiated in 2022 on the directive of President Yoweri Museveni, instructing the State House Anti-Corruption Unit (SHACU), in collaboration with the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), to probe corruption and illegal land dealings within Uganda Railways Corporation.
The court’s ruling marks a major step in the ongoing crackdown on corruption and illegal land transactions within public institutions.
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