Wakiso lands office reopened after a week of closure over ‘massive fraud’

A week after the Wakiso District lands office was shut down on the account of massive fraud, the State Minister for Lands, Mr Sam Mayanja has reopened it and banned brokers who loiter around all land offices across the country.

Mr Mayanja has repeatedly accused brokers of being behind the fraud committed in land offices saying they wouldn't be allowed to do any transactions on behalf of anybody.

"On the other hand, operations of land registry and the data itself, generate considerable land-related revenue to the government, especially if computerized. Losing control of the data can result in major revenue losses for the government," he said.

"Therefore, the government can't allow commercial vendors and hawkers near land registries and national land information centers as they have the capacity to steal and profit from accessing registered and secured data, or even to sabotage the nation," Mr Mayanja added.

READ: Wakiso lands office closed again, staff suspended over ‘massive fraud’

He accused brokers of defrauding unsuspecting Ugandans. "Unfortunately, the unprofessional agents had turned the Wakiso and few other land registries in the country as places they can easily identify unsuspecting landowners who are ignorant of the land registration procedures and fees payable," he said.

While reopening the Wakiso lands office today it was made clear that the majority of former staff had been laid off.

“This is the new staff. I tell you don’t share your passwords. We expect you to serve Ugandans well," Ms Grace Kagoro who is in charge of digitizing the lands ministry said.

In 2018, following a public outcry, security operatives from State House Anti-Corruption Unit raided Wakiso District land registry, the busiest in the country, and rounded up surveyors, land officials and brokers. The team led by Col Edith Nakalema seized electronic gadgets from land officers and their clients who had come to process land titles.