Sheema, Uganda: In a striking crackdown on land fraud, the Office of the Inspector General of Government (IGG), led by Beti Kamya Turwomwe, recently halted a planned payout of Shs 13.355 billion to an impersonator posing as a legitimate land claimant in Sheema District.
In November 2024, a whistleblower alerted authorities that James Kumwesiga was being compensated for Block 19, Plot 49 in Kiyugu, Sheema.
Investigations revealed Kumwesiga had opened a bank account at ABSA using forged IDs and fake phone numbers. The Uganda Land Commission (ULC) was preparing to make the payout when IGG intervention stopped it in its tracks.
IGG Kamya’s swift order to freeze the payment protected public funds equivalent to the quarterly supply for essential medicines in Uganda’s Ministry of Health. That intervention came amid rising public concern that land-related graft comprised 32% of all corruption complaints, with an estimated Shs 250 billion lost in five years.
Not an Isolated Incident
This is part of a broader anti-corruption initiative spearheaded by Beti Kamya. In April, the IGG also interdicted and later had arrested Lands Commissioner Baker Mugaino, along with other land registry officials, on sweeping corruption charges—ranging from title forgeries to unauthorized issuance of certificates to foreigners.
Political Echoes
The scandal bears resemblance to a 2021/22 Parliamentary COSASE investigation into a Shs 10.6 billion land compensation scandal during Kamya’s tenure as Minister of Lands, where ghost payees were involved and she was singled out for allegedly bypassing the Uganda Land Commission.
While the High Court later quashed calls for prosecuting her, public and parliamentary scrutiny cast long shadows.
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