FEATURE

SATURDAY VISION
April 30, 2016

Fraudsters use the photocopies of a genuine land title to produce a fake title with similar security features

Experts reveal tricks used

by fraudsters to steal land
BY JOHN SEMAKULA
POLICE chief Gen. Kale
Kayihura, recently summoned
ofcials from the Land
Protection Unit of Police after
a complaint that they helped
a stubborn tenant uproot a
landlords fence.
The landlord had told
Kayihura that he wanted the
errant ofcers punished.
But, after listening to the
story of the elderly tenant
and the Police men, Kayihura
realised no crime had been
committed by the ofcers. The
tenant had told Kayihura that
her kibanja was fenced off
without being compensated in
line with the Land Act.
When Kayihura asked the
landlord whether that was the
case, he said the old woman
was delaying his project. A
source said Kayihura was
not amused by the landlords
answer and let his men off the
hook.
The spokesperson of the
Land Protection Unit of Police,
Emilian Kayima, conrmed
to Saturday Vision that the
said meeting with Kayihura
took place. Kayima said many
members of the public have
been duped by people who
use the cover of the night to
fence off their land in a bid to
grab it. He said they helped
the old woman uproot the
fence after she narrated her
ordeal to them.
Kayima said the public must
resist illegal land evictions, by
removing illegal fences built
around them before running
to Police to report attempted
evictions.
Thousands of Ugandans
have been evicted from their
land by land grabbers, leaving
them to wallow in poverty.
CONNIVING WITH OWNERS
Kayima said sometimes
the fraudsters connive with
rightful owners to dupe
buyers.

Govt speaks out

The then Mubende district Police commander, Enock Abaine, calms pastoralists at Mukadde
village, Manyogaseka Sub-county, whose land had been fenced off by two landlords in 2011
The rightful owners will be
in the know of the fraudsters
sinister motives and leave
you to pay them and even
start clearing your land before
coming out to stop you, he
said.
Police statistics show that 14
cases of Fraud on sale were
reported in 2015.
A total of 65 cases of trespass
on peoples land were also
reported last year. The Police
explained that many of such
cases arise when the new
buyers who bought air go to
clear their land.
Saturday Vision also learnt
that fraudsters involve elders
and LC ofcials in the deal
to make it hard for buyers to
suspect them. Kayima advised
buyers to conduct proper title
search and surveys before
going ahead to pay their hard
earned money.
FAKE TITLES
The other type of fraud
involves fraudsters
photocopying genuine land
titles from people who are
selling land and using them to
produce fake land titles.
Kayima explained that
fraudsters get photocopies
from unsuspecting owners
after pretending to be genuine

Right title, wrong land

ayima also unveiled the sophisticated tricks

fraudsters are using to defraud the public of their
land. He said the tricks include fraudsters showing
genuine land titles to the buyers for the wrong piece of
land being sold.
Saturday Vision learnt that victims end up either
losing the money they paid or getting land in wetlands,
forests and road reserves.
Someone will take you somewhere and show you the
land they are selling and its land title when, in actual
sense, the title is not for that piece of land, he said.
Saturday Vision has learnt that buyers discover the
fraud after taking surveyors to open the boundaries.

land brokers who are looking

for buyers to get commission.
The fraudsters will use the
photocopies of a genuine land
title to produce a fake title
with similar security features
on the original titles, Kayima
said.
He noted that people who
hit jackpots are targeted by
fraudsters using the fraud.
As soon as fraudsters learn
that you have money to buy
land, they will approach you
with a photocopy of a genuine
land tittle and convince you to
buy their land, he said.
Police said owners of land,
which fraudsters market will
innocently let them to take
buyers to inspect the land not
knowing their sinister motives.
To convince the buyers, the
fraudsters may even hand over
a photocopy of the land title
to potential buyers and ask
them to go and conduct a title
search.
Since the photocopy is of a
genuine land tittle, the buyer
will nd the records at the
lands ofce and go ahead to
pay for the land, Kayima said.
Saturday Vision has learnt
that after identifying a buyer,
the fraudsters will get paid
and disappear, leaving the
buyer to suffer with the
rightful owners.
THE ESTATE OF THE LATE
Last year, Police recorded
34 cases of fraudulent
procurement of land titles. The
cases increased by six from
those of 2014.
Police said sometimes,
fraudsters claim ownership of
the estate of the dead.
Kayima explained that when
someone who did not make a
will dies, a close family friend
may come up to claim that the
deceased sold them property
before encountering death.
Police said some

fraudsters even get letters of

administration from the Ofce
of the Administrator General
and start harassing the close
family members.
Kayima said whoever claims
to have bought property from

he spokesperson of Ministry of Lands, Denis Obbo,

told Saturday Vision that the land information
system being used in lands offices traps external fraud.
Obbo explained that each land titles released today
has special security features. He noted that a fake land
title will not be read.
Obbo also said in case the fraud is initiated by people
within the ministry using the system, the managers will
trace it and arrest the perpetrators.
Saturday Vision also learnt that the old land titles
benefit from the new security features because as
soon as a transfer is issued on them, the ministry will
inscribe the feature on them.
Obbo noted that if the area land committees clear
certain people to get land in a wetland or forest
reserve, the ministry will use its systems to trap them.

a dead person must provide

evidence of a sells agreement
to close family members.
Police registered 22 cases of
intermeddling with the estate
of the deceased last year.

Next week, Saturday Vision

will bring you a story on
how land grabbers use
prisons to fix stubborn
tenants.
These series are sponsored
by ACME