Kampala, Uganda – The Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development is reportedly boiling with tension as Permanent Secretary Docus Okalanyi faces serious allegations of corruption, abuse of office, nepotism, and turning the once-respected ministry into what insiders describe as a “marketplace of deals and suffering.”
Okalanyi previously served at the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs before joining the Ministry of Lands in 2016. However, after serving at the ministry for nearly a decade, sources claim she has allegedly become “a stone in the shoe” for workers and staff across the country’s Ministry Zonal Offices (MZOs).
According to furious insiders, staff are allegedly being forced to part with millions of shillings in exchange for favorable deployments and transfers. Several workers claim that lucrative stations such as Wakiso, Mukono, and Kampala are allegedly being “sold like hot cakes.”
“Registrars, surveyors, planners, and land officers are reportedly paying between UGX 30 million and 50 million to secure good stations,” a source alleged.
Lower cadre workers such as typists, office attendants, and cartographers are also reportedly being squeezed for between UGX 10 million and 15 million, while even graduate trainees are allegedly forced to cough up money to survive in the system.
According to sources, Ms. Okalanyi, who hails from the Bugisu sub-region in Mbale District, has allegedly built a “family empire” within the ministry by recruiting several relatives and close associates.
Insiders claim the PS has quietly turned some MZOs into family territories, especially in Wakiso and Mukono, where relatives and loyalists allegedly dominate deployments.
A source further alleged that the current Acting Commissioner for Human Resource, Harriet Akello, operates under direct influence from the PS on staffing matters, allegedly sidelining established HR procedures.
We have also learned that officials who disagree with the PS are either frustrated, transferred, or kicked out of sensitive positions.
The former Under Secretary, identified as Juuko, was reportedly pushed out after alleged clashes with the powerful PS.
It has further been alleged that before Okalanyi joined the ministry, staff used to receive a monthly allowance of about UGX 200,000. Angry employees now claim the allowance mysteriously disappeared shortly after she assumed office.
Workers allege that the benefit was scrapped without explanation, leaving many struggling financially.
Staff working in distant stations such as Moroto, Gulu, Lira, Kabale, Masindi, and other districts are also reportedly suffering without housing or transport facilitation despite being deployed far from their families.
Some workers allegedly fear applying for leave due to intimidation and pressure at work.
“There are women returning to work days after giving birth because they fear losing favor in the system,” one insider claimed.
The scandal is reportedly becoming even dirtier as allegations of fake land titles and land grabbing continue to rock the ministry.
Sources allege that the unchecked deployment of graduate trainees has created dangerous loopholes within land registries, fueling fake title syndicates and empowering land grabbers.
Some trainees are accused of conniving with fraudsters by leaking registry information and facilitating illegal processing of land documents.
The ministry is also reportedly battling allegations that some district staff are illegally operating within MZOs while still earning salaries from local governments — allegedly using ministry offices to pursue lucrative land deals.
Staff further allege that PS Okalanyi is frequently absent from office and often out of the country, especially traveling to the United States allegedly to visit family members, while chaos continues to grow within the ministry.
Meanwhile, one bizarre claim involves an office attendant allegedly working in three different MZOs — KCCA, Jinja, and Mpigi — by allegedly bribing supervisors and performing duties outside her job description, including typing sensitive land titles and official documents.
As pressure mounts, ministry insiders claim morale among workers has collapsed, while corruption and internal fights continue to eat away at one of Uganda’s most sensitive government institutions.
Workers are now calling upon the appointing authority to urgently clean up the ministry before, as some insiders put it, “the system completely goes to the dogs.”
Comment from PS Docus Okalanyi still underway. We shall keep you updated once she responds to the allegations
