Together with his co-accused persons, Ateng further forged signatures of the then Managing Director URC and used it to utter false documents used in the transfer and sale of the said land.
The former Principal Assistant Secretary at the Ministry of Lands attached to Lira Lands Zonal Office, Francis Ateng has been handed three years imprisonment on eleven counts including, among them, abuse of office, Fraudulent procurement of certificate of title, forgery, uttering false documents and conspiracy to commit a felony.
He was convicted and sentenced by the Anti-Corruption Court. Prosecution stated that in January 2018, while employed at the ministry’s Lira Zonal Land Office, Ateng in collaboration with others, abused his office with the intention of defrauding Uganda Railways Corporation of its land.
He facilitated the irregular issuance of a special certificate of title, arranged for the separation and allocation of the said land, identified brokers, and sold the land to private individuals without following the procedures for disposing off government property.
Together with his co-accused persons, Ateng further forged signatures of the then Managing Director URC and used it to utter false documents used in the transfer and sale of the said land.
One of Ateng’s co-accused, Ocen Joseph, had previously pleaded guilty on the same charges and given a custodial sentence of two years.
These investigations followed a 2022 presidential directive to the State House Anti-Corruption Unit in collaboration with the police CID and the office of the DPP to investigate corruption within Uganda Railways Corporation and to prosecute all individuals involved in defrauding Uganda Railways Corporation of its land.
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