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Sitenda Mugalu and others in court
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Kampala
Nicodemus Sitenda Mugalu, the Deputy Resident District Commissioner (RDC) of Gomba District, has been charged and remanded to prison over a raft of corruption-related offences, including abuse of office, fraudulent procurement of land titles, and forgery. The arrest and arraignment were conducted by the State House Anti-Corruption Unit in collaboration with the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP). Mugalu appeared before the Anti-Corruption Court in Kololo on Tuesday morning and was remanded until June 5, 2025.
Prosecution alleges that between 2016 and 2017, while working as a Cartographer at the Mpigi lands office, Mugalu arbitrarily plotted land that overlapped an existing title registered to the Madhvani Group Ltd, a prominent investor in Uganda. The disputed land is located on Freehold Register Volume (FRV) 60 Folio 4 in Gomba District.
Nicodemus Sitenda Mugalu in court
Mugalu is accused of forging documents, including an application to convert land from customary to freehold tenure, and fraudulently procuring certificates of title in the names of various individuals.
He now joins Jasper Kakooza, the Acting Commissioner of Mapping and Surveys at the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, and nine other suspects who were earlier charged in connection with the same fraudulent scheme involving the illegal creation and issuance of land titles.
The charges have drawn concern from both government and private sector players, as the case involves prime land owned by a major investor. The Madhvani Group has long been engaged in large-scale agricultural and industrial operations in the region, and the fraudulent actions are seen as a threat to investment and lawful land ownership.
The Anti-Corruption Unit has pledged to pursue the matter to its logical conclusion and reiterated its commitment to rooting out fraud and abuse of office, particularly in the land sector, which has long been marred by corruption and irregularities.
Mugalu will remain on remand as investigations and prosecution proceedings continue.
Torch Media Africa
