Francis Ateng appearing in court
The Anti-Corruption Court has sentenced Francis Ateng, the former Principal Assistant Secretary at the Ministry of Lands, Lira Zonal Office, to two years and nine months in prison for abuse of office and related offences.
Ateng was convicted on 11 counts, including abuse of office, fraudulent procurement of a title, forgery, uttering false documents, and conspiracy to commit a felony.
All the offences stem from dealings involving Uganda Railways Corporation (URC) land-FRV 2020 Folio 13, Plot 42-50 along Mukwano Road in the then Lira Municipality, committed between January 2018 and 2020.
According to court findings, Ateng and others, still at large, facilitated the issuance of a special certificate of title, subdivided and allocated URC land, and sold it to private individuals through brokers, bypassing established procedures for the disposal of government property.
Delivering the ruling on Monday, November 24, Chief Magistrate Racheal Nakyazze weighed Ateng’s plea for leniency against the seriousness of the offences and imposed a custodial sentence of 2 years and 9 months, slightly reduced from the maximum applicable sentence of three years.
On Counts 3 and 4, which involved the fraudulent procurement of a certificate of title, an offence that attracts a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, Ateng was handed 1 year and 11 months, down from the possible two years.
The magistrate noted that the illegal title “did not reach the hands of the wrong elements,” a factor that warranted a lighter sentence. He also received nine months for each forgery charge and six months for uttering false documents, contrary to Sections 351 and 347 of the Penal Code Act.
The magistrate declined to impose an additional sentence for conspiracy to commit a felony, explaining that punishing both the agreement to commit an offence and the offence itself would be redundant.
The court deducted 31 days Ateng had spent on remand and ordered all sentences to run concurrently, meaning he will serve a total of 2 years and 9 months. During sentencing, State Attorney Viola Tusingwire urged the court to impose punitive penalties, arguing that one of the offences carries a life sentence.
She said Ateng, as a public officer, had a duty to protect government property, but instead participated in a scheme to defraud URC of its land. She added that his refusal to plead guilty prolonged the trial and that a custodial sentence was in the public interest.
Ateng’s legal team had asked the court for leniency, saying the sentence should provide an opportunity for rehabilitation. He highlighted Ateng’s 23 years of service in government, his clean record, and his family responsibilities.
-URN
