IGG Interdicts Lands Registration Boss

The Inspectorate of Government has ordered the immediate interdiction of Baker Mugaino, Commissioner for Land Registration in the Ministry of Lands, Housing, and Urban Development, as a wave of land fraud allegations engulfs senior officials in the ministry.

IGG Beti Kamya Turwomwe directed Permanent Secretary Dorcas Okalany to interdict Mugaino to facilitate ongoing investigations into the fraudulent transfer and cancellation of land titles.

The IGG’s directive follows a search and seizure operation at Mugaino’s office on April 24, 2025, during which key documents were confiscated.

According to Kamya, Mugaino is suspected of authorising the replacement of authentic certificates of title with fake special titles, lifting caveats arbitrarily, creating overlapping titles, and issuing freehold titles to foreigners—actions that violate both legal procedure and court decisions.

Further accusations involve irregular conversion of Mailo and leasehold land into freehold titles without statutory processes like public hearings.

Kamya cited constitutional and statutory provisions that empower her office to demand such action, giving Okalany seven days to confirm Mugaino’s interdiction.

Mugaino's interdiction comes after the State House Anti-Corruption Unit, in conjunction with the Criminal Investigations Directorate and the Directorate of Public Prosecutions, arraigned Jasper Kakooza, Acting Commissioner for Surveys and Mapping, before the Anti-Corruption Court alongside nine others.

The group is accused of forging titles on land registered since 1955 to Madhvani Group Limited in Gomba District.

Among the co-accused are Gomba District’s former land board chair Hajji Badru Ismail Kayongo, LC1 chairman Andrew Siwuliliza Sserunkuma, former district land board secretary Gladys Nakanwagi, and a businessman, Allan Katakanya.

The prosecution alleges that in 2024 the group illegally seized over 600 acres of Madhvani land in Musongole Village, Mpenja Subcounty, claiming to be conducting a boundary reopening.

The operation led to the destruction of tea plantations and over 540 acres of forest.

Charges range from abuse of office and forgery to forcible detainer, destruction of property, and conspiracy to commit misdemeanours and felonies.

All ten have been remanded until April 30, 2025. Arrest warrants have also been issued for three suspects still at large, including Gomba’s Deputy RDC, Sitenda Nicodemus Mugalu.

The escalating prosecutions spotlight a deeply entrenched fraud network involving government officials, local leaders, and private actors.

Authorities say fraudulent title duplication, fake court orders, and forced evictions have become disturbingly common.

Critics have long blamed the surge in land fraud on the government’s failure to implement recommendations from the Justice Bamugemereire Land Commission.

Despite damning findings, the report remains shelved, and some of the implicated officials continue to wield influence.

Kamya reiterated the Inspectorate’s resolve to cleanse public service of impunity.

“Public officers must uphold the highest standards of ethics and integrity,” she said, warning that no one is beyond the reach of the law.

Mugaino is suspected of authorising the replacement of authentic certificates of title with fake special titles, lifting caveats arbitrarily, creating overlapping titles, and issuing freehold titles to foreigners—actions that violate both legal procedure and court decisions.