Game Over! Gov’t Official, UPDF Soldier Nabbed In Ugx1.5Bn War Victims’ Compensation Scandal

By Our Reporter

The nationwide probe into the plunder of government cattle compensation funds in Northern Uganda deepened this afternoon as three more suspects were hauled before the Otuke Magistrate’s Court over the alleged embezzlement of more than UGX 1.5 billion meant for war-affected livestock claimants.

In a joint operation spearheaded by the State House Anti-Corruption Unit (SHACU), the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID), and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), the accused were arraigned to face charges of theft and conspiracy to defraud vulnerable beneficiaries of the programme.

The trio comprises Akasa Jimmy Mokili, a politician-cum-businessman from Agago District; Okengo Jaspher, the LCIII Chairperson of Ogor Sub-county in Otuke; and Sgt. Amoni Benz, alias Okengo Bonny, a Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) officer.

According to the charge sheet, the suspects—acting in concert with yet-to-be-apprehended accomplices—are alleged to have infiltrated the cattle compensation payment process, targeting elderly residents who had lost livestock during the Lord’s Resistance Army insurgency and the Karamoja cattle rustling waves.

Investigators assert that the accused exploited registration and bank account opening exercises to acquire the victims’ banking credentials unlawfully. These were then allegedly used to siphon entire payments without the knowledge of the rightful beneficiaries, or to disburse only token sums while retaining the lion’s share.

In Otuke District alone, losses are pegged at over UGX 1.5 billion, while similar schemes are reportedly under scrutiny in multiple districts spanning the Lango, Acholi, and Teso sub-regions.

The court, presided over by the Otuke Magistrate, ordered the trio’s remand until 19 August 2025, pending further mention of the case.

The arrests form part of a widening anti-graft dragnet aimed at dismantling entrenched fraud networks preying on reparations earmarked for victims of decades-old conflict and lawlessness in northern Uganda.