The Anti-Corruption Court has convicted three former public officials and a private individual for fraudulently acquiring and disposing of Lira District land, bringing to a close a case stemming from the irregular processing of a land title in 2019.
Principal Magistrate Grade One Christopher Opit delivered the judgment on Thursday, finding the accused guilty after the prosecution proved that they conspired to fraudulently obtain a freehold certificate of title over part of Lira District Local Government land.
The convicted officials are Francis Opio, the former Lira District Staff Surveyor; Pabious Otike, the former District Natural Resources Officer; and Joel Ogwang, a cartographer attached to the Ministry of Lands Zonal Office in Lira. They were convicted alongside Rebecca Atoo, a private individual and Opio’s sister, in whose name the disputed land title was registered.
Prosecution, led by Gertrude Apio, a Senior State Attorney in the Anti-Corruption Department of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), told the court that between February and August 2019, Lira District Local Government initiated the process of securing a certificate of title for its land at Ireda Estate.
Court heard that during the survey, Opio and Otike deliberately excluded a portion of the district land from the official survey plan. The omitted land was subsequently processed into a separate freehold certificate of title for Plots 3–5 Ben Emor Road, Ireda Estate, with the assistance of Ogwang.
The prosecution established that the title was fraudulently registered in the name of Rebecca Atoo. She later sold the property to Pius Olam, with the accused persons participating in and witnessing the transaction.
The court found that the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that the accused abused their offices, fraudulently procured a certificate of title and conspired to defraud Lira District Local Government. They were accordingly convicted of abuse of office, fraudulent procurement of a certificate of title and conspiracy to defraud.
The case is the culmination of investigations that began several years ago. In 2022, the State House Anti-Corruption Unit arrested Otike and Ogwang over their alleged roles in the fraudulent acquisition of the district land.
Otike had previously faced disciplinary action over a separate land matter. In March 2021, he was interdicted together with three other district officials over allegations of irregularly disposing of another piece of Lira District land located on Plot 14 Church Road.
The officials were accused of facilitating the sale of that property to businessman Peter Okodo, who later constructed and continues to operate a pharmacy on the land.
The latest convictions are expected to strengthen ongoing efforts by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and other anti-corruption agencies to recover public land and hold public officials accountable for abuse of office and the fraudulent disposal of government property. The four convicts are scheduled to return to court on Monday for sentencing-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
