Kampala, Uganda.
The Buganda Road Chief Magistrates’ Court in Kampala has found city lawyer Kenneth Kwesiga Bateyo, from Bateyo and Company Advocates, guilty of defrauding sh330m in a fraudulent land transaction.
Chief Magistrate Sarah Tumusiime Bashaija has convicted Bateyo. Bateyo, aged 61, faced 13 counts of committing fraudulent acts, including fabricating documents, participating in a criminal conspiracy, issuing false documents, creating counterfeit materials, forgery, forging a land title, obtaining money through deceit, and impersonation. These charges contravene Sections 305, 19(1)(c), 342(a), 345, 347, 351, 353, and 390 of the Penal Code Act, each carrying a potential prison term of three, five, or seven years.
Bateyo’s co-conspirators, George William Kaggwa Ssalongo, aged 60, Irene Achieng (alias Asunta Frazer Lubanga), aged 37, and Chrispus Sali (alias Chris), aged 37, were also convicted. Chief Magistrate Bashaija, while delivering her verdict, stated that the prosecution successfully demonstrated all the necessary elements to prove the guilt of Bateyo, Kaggwa, and Sali for fraudulently orchestrating and executing a land sales agreement with Rashid Ndaula. “I am entirely convinced, beyond reasonable doubt, that the prosecution has established the guilt of Bateyo, Kaggwa, and Sali on charges of obtaining money through deception, issuing falsified documents, and forgery,” Bashaija ruled. Achieng, on the other hand, was excluded from the conviction as she pleaded guilty to all charges and entered into a plea agreement with the state.
Presenting the case, Senior State Attorney Timothy Amerit, representing the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, detailed how the convicts defrauded Dauda of sh330m on June 28, 2019, through the sale of a piece of land in Block 269 Plot 1349 in Luboba, Wakiso district. Their fraudulent activities encompassed a web of conspiracies, forgery, and the use of counterfeit documents, among other illegal actions. “After discovering the fraud, Ndaula promptly reported the matter to the police, leading to the arrest of the culprits,” Amerit explained.
According to the prosecution, on June 28, 2019, at Uganda House 3rd floor, Central Division in Kampala district, the convicts, alongside unidentified individuals still at large, intentionally deceived Ndaula by falsely presenting the sale of a 0.57-hectare plot of land in Block 269, Plot 1349 in Lubowa, Wakiso district. Moreover, they engaged in the deliberate creation and use of a fraudulent sales agreement document to deceive Ndaula.
The conviction of Bateyo and his accomplices sends a strong message to those involved in fraudulent activities within the legal profession. It serves as a clear indication of the judiciary’s commitment to protecting innocent individuals from falling victim to such deceptive schemes.
