Two Lira district officials were charged on Wednesday, January 4, 2023, with fraudulent procurement of titles, conspiracy to commit a felony, and abuse of office.
The two are accused of using their positions to defraud public land in the area.
They have been identified as Francis Opio, the surveyor, and Rebecca Atoo. They were remanded until February 28th, 2023, when they will reappear in court to answer the above charges.
The two accused allegedly conspired and fraudulently obtained a title in the name of Atoo Rebecca on government land plot 3-5 Ireda Estate in Lira.They were assisted by the Natural Resources Officer, Otike Pabius, and the Lira MZO Cartographer, Ogwang Joel.
In late October 2022, the State House Anti-Corruption Unit arrested and arraigned in court several Lira district staff over the same allegations.
The suspects were Otike Pabius, a Natural Resources Officer, Ochen Alwong Joseph, a Senior Lands Management Officer, Eram Bazil, and Opio, Chairperson of the Area Land Committee.
They reportedly sold government land to a businessman named Peter Okodo.
Uganda loses at least Sh9.144 trillion to corruption in private and public institutions.
According to the government’s inspectorate, corruption costs the country 23% of its annual budget.
Just in 2022, IGG and other sister agencies recovered over $30 billion from corruption.