November 7th 2025: The Anti-Corruption Court has convicted and sentenced Mr. Ateng Francis, a 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.
The sentencing follows his earlier conviction on charges stemming from a scheme to fraudulently acquire and sell public land belonging to the Uganda Railways Corporation (URC) in Lira District.
SH-ACU investigations had earlier indicated that in January 2018, while serving at the Ministry of Lands’ Zonal Office in Lira District, Ateng abused his authority alongside others to facilitate the issuance of a special certificate of title over URC land. He reportedly orchestrated the subdivision and allocation of the land, identified brokers, and oversaw its sale to private individuals without following established procedures for the disposal of government property.
Prosecution revealed that Ateng and his accomplices forged the signature of the then Managing Director of URC and used the falsified documents to process and legitimize the illegal transfer and sale of the land.
One of his co-accused, Ocen Joseph, had earlier pleaded guilty to similar charges and was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment.
The case is part of wider investigations launched following a 2022 directive by Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, instructing the State House Anti-Corruption Unit (SH-ACU), in collaboration with the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), to investigate corruption within Uganda Railways Corporation and prosecute individuals involved in the disposal of its assets.