KAMPALA — A senior land management officer attached to Mbale City has been charged and remanded over allegations that he abused his office to facilitate the irregular acquisition of government land by a private businessman.
Emmanuel Paul Kigaye was arraigned on Tuesday before the Anti-Corruption Division of the High Court on charges of abuse of office and fraudulent procurement of a certificate of title, following his arrest in a joint operation by the State House Anti-Corruption Unit (SHACU) and the Inspectorate of Government (IG), working with the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP).
Prosecutors allege that between September 2019 and May 2023, Kigaye irregularly facilitated the issuance of a certificate of title for Plot 27, Bishop Masaba Road, in the name of businessman Moses Wamatsembe, despite the land having already been allocated to the Dairy Development Authority (DDA), the statutory body charged with developing Uganda’s dairy sector.
According to the prosecution, Kigaye committed an arbitrary act prejudicial to the interests of his employer by allegedly causing the Registrar of Titles at the Mbale Ministry Zonal Office to prepare and process documents leading to the issuance of the disputed title. The state further alleges that he fraudulently processed and procured the registration of a freehold certificate of title — FRV MBA199 Folio 22, instrument number MBA-0009476 — covering approximately 0.5040 hectares at Plot 27, Bishop Masaba Road, Fairway Cell.
Kigaye was remanded until July 16, 2026, as investigations continue.
The arrest reflects the coordinated approach anti-graft agencies have increasingly adopted in land-related corruption cases, pairing SHACU’s investigative reach with the IG’s constitutional mandate to prosecute abuse of office. SHACU, established by President Yoweri Museveni in December 2018 under Article 99(4) of the Constitution, was created to fast-track the resolution of corruption complaints received by the presidency.
The case adds to mounting scrutiny of land administration in Mbale and the wider Elgon sub-region. Anti-corruption agencies have intensified investigations into the alleged fraudulent acquisition and misuse of public land, with several public officials and private individuals prosecuted in recent years. Mbale has been a recurring flashpoint: seven public servants were previously arrested over the alleged allocation of about 52 acres of former Nakaloke Town Council land to private developers, and local leaders have linked a rise in land disputes to the municipality’s elevation to city status in 2020. Just days before Kigaye’s arraignment, the Ministry of Local Government ordered the interdiction of four senior Mbale District technical heads over alleged administrative and financial malpractice, paving the way for investigations by SHACU and other agencies.
Land management officers wield significant influence over title processing and allocations, making the role vulnerable to abuse where safeguards fail. Court proceedings are expected to shed more light on the alleged transaction. Officials from Mbale City and the Dairy Development Authority had not publicly commented by press time.
