Businessman charged with forgery of Munyonyo land titles

KAMPALA - A businessman has been charged with fraudulent procurement of a certificate of title for land in Munyonyo, Kampala.

On July 22, the State House Anti-Corruption Unit, with the Criminal Investigations Directorate arraigned Eric Ahebwa at the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) Magistrate Court to answer the charges.

Ahebwa also faces charges of forgery and uttering false documents. He appeared before the court and denied the charges. The offences attract a maximum sentence of seven years in prison upon conviction.

The prosecution alleges that the accused and others still at large created a false transfer form, with the intent to deceive or defraud, and fraudulently obtained a certificate of title for land located in Kyadondo Block 255, Plot 389, at Munyonyo.

They allegedly committed the offences on January 3, 2018, at the KCCA Ministry Zonal Office in Kampala. 

Last year, the Government introduced fresh guidelines for obtaining special certificates of title in order to curb fraudulent transactions.

Over 390 land crimes

The Annual Police Crime Report 2024 says 397 cases of land fraud-related crimes were reported to Police compared to 271 cases reported in 2023, giving a 46.5% increase in the crimes reported in this category.

By the end of 2024, a total of 64 cases were taken to Court, 103 not proceeded with, while 230 were still under inquiry.

Out of the total cases taken to Court, 12 were convictions, 05 acquittals, 04 dismissed and 43 were still pending.

Over sh470b lost to fraudsters

Uganda recorded a staggering loss of shillings 474.6 billion to fraudsters last year, with victims falling prey to fraudulent schemes in and transactions, export labour scam and bogus land deals.

While addressing the media at the Police headquarters in Naguru on February 4, 2025, deputy director of the Criminal Investigations Directorate Beata Chelimo revealed that the fraudulent activities resulted in a significant number of reported cases, with a total of 10,449 cases filed with the Police.

Of these, 6,067 case files were submitted to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for legal advice, with 918 cases leading to convictions.

However, 52 people have been acquitted, and 369 cases were dismissed due to insufficient evidence.

Chelimo explained that the stolen cash (sh474.6b) was obtained by cash (sh474.6b) was obtained by fraudsters using various deceptive tactics, including offering fake land titles, selling non-existent land and exploiting unsuspecting buyers through fictitious gold transactions.

So far, Police have recovered sh10b of the stolen funds through ongoing investigations.