Trio charged over sh1.5b theft in Otuke cattle compensation scheme

OTUKE - Three more suspects were charged on Tuesday, August 5, 2025, at Otuke Magistrates’ Court in Otuke district with the theft of over sh1.5 billion in cattle compensation money.

The three include Jimmy Akasa Mokili, a politician and businessman from Agago district; Jaspher Okengo, LCIII chairperson of Ogor subcounty in Otuke district; and Sgt. Benz Amoni (alias Okengo Bonny), a Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) soldier.

The trio were arrested following a joint investigation by the State House Anti-Corruption Unit (SHACU), the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID), and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP).

A statement released on Tuesday by SHACU indicated that, “SHACU, working with CID and ODPP, arraigned three suspects before the Otuke Magistrate’s Court.

The accused, Mokili, Okengo and Amoni, were charged with theft and conspiracy to defraud beneficiaries of the cattle compensation programme in northern Uganda.

The victims, mainly elderly, are individuals who lost livestock during the LRA insurgency and the Karamoja cattle raids in Otuke district.”

SHACU explained that investigations revealed that the accused, together with others still at large, exploited the registration and bank account opening process to obtain victims’ banking details.

They then manipulated these accounts, withdrawing government compensation funds without the victims’ knowledge or, in some cases, giving them only a fraction of the payout.

The suspects were remanded until August 19, 2025.

“In Otuke District alone, over sh1.5 billion has been stolen, with similar cases under investigation in several other districts across the Lango, Acholi, and Teso sub-regions,” the statement said.

The suspects were remanded until August 19, 2025.

The three join another group of suspects — Denis Obua, Joel Okeng, and Jonan Ayo — who were previously charged before the same Otuke Magistrates’ Court with theft and unlawful possession of national identity cards belonging to other people meant to receive cattle compensation in the district.

While charging them, SHACU said that during the registration for cattle compensation and account opening, the accused and others still at large obtained bank details of their victims, who are mostly elderly, and have since been operating their accounts and stealing money paid by the government for cattle compensation.

The fraudsters denied the victims access to their bank account details, blocking them from retrieving their money. Over sh500 million has so far been stolen from the victims in the scam, and investigations are ongoing.

In April this year, the government announced it had allocated sh150 billion to compensate war debt claimants in the Acholi, Lango, and Teso sub-regions for cattle lost during past insurgencies. Each sub-region is expected to receive sh50 billion.

Dr Kenneth Omona, the State Minister for Northern Uganda Rehabilitation, revealed the development during a recent site visit to Maruzi Ranch in Akokoro Sub-county. He noted that the funds will be disbursed in the 2025/2026 financial year.

Dr Omona encouraged beneficiaries to reinvest the compensation into livestock to revitalise the Northern and Eastern Uganda cattle corridor and fight poverty in the region.