The Ministry of Lands Zonal Offices (MZO) have been cordoned off by Police to allow investigations to be carried out.

This follows a break in at the Ministry of Lands Zonal Office in Bukalasa by yet to be identified criminals on Tuesday, June 20, 2023, who got away with various government equipment including computers and paper records.

“Crime officers are still examining the scene. There are some traceable marks and evidence that the thugs left behind, so we hope to get through the investigations,” Luwero Deputy Police Commander, Livingstone Tumwesigye said.

Media reports indicate that, the two guards that were on duty the night of the break in have been arrested.

According to Dr. Sam Mayanja, the State Minister for Lands, the break in happened just a day after the Land Ministry decided to clean up and cancel overlaps, and illegal titles that have been issued at Bukalasa land office.

However, Christopher Sanyu, the Principal Assistant Secretary and team leader at MZO said that, land titles were safe though he made a confirmation that the titles that were being worked on were stolen.

He added that they haven’t yet confirmed the number of documents that were taken.

“This office was handling over 68,000 files related to land matters,” Christopher said.

Mayanja however, asked the public to remain calm and patient during the investigation process, as several measures are being put in place to prevent such incidents from occurring in the nearby future.

“The back-up and data recovery site, which contains essential information, remained intact and unaltered. As a precautionary measure, the server has been temporarily shut down until investigations are concluded and proper authorization is granted for the restoration of service,” he said.

Due to the ongoing investigations, clients who visited the office to carry out land searches were left stranded as police stopped them from accessing the offices.