The Anti-Corruption Court in Kampala has remanded Geoffrey Omara, a former Physical Planner with Lira Municipal Council, and Lawrence Okello, a Kampala-based businessman, to Luzira Prison.
They face 11 charges related to fraud, forgery, and abuse of office stemming from a conspiracy to sell and purchase forest reserve land. The two appeared before the Chief Magistrate, Racheal Nakyazze.
Omara is accused of abusing his office by authoring a false letter indicating that the Physical Planning Committee had approved an application for a leasehold title.
Okello is accused of fraudulently transferring the title from Aliro Mark to his own name and altering boundary marks of the Lira Plantations Central Forest Reserve to construct an oil fuel station.
Two other suspects, Joseph Ocen Alwong, a Senior Land Management Officer, and Joel Okwir, a Lira-based businessman, are also charged in the case.
Ocen Alwong is serving a sentence at Luzira Prison for corruption, while Okwir is under criminal summons for failing to appear in court.
The prosecution noted that investigations are still ongoing, and a production warrant for Ocen Alwong and criminal summons for Okwir were granted by the court.
Both Omara and Okello have denied the charges. The case has been adjourned to May 6, 2025, for a bail application.
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