Directorate of Public Prosecution joins fight to Curb Land Grabbing.

In a bid to curb the ongoing cases of Land grabbing in the Country, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (“MoU”) with REDEEM International for effective identification, investigation and prosecution of selected property grabbing related crimes and the maximization of the ODPP’s capacity and constructive impact in the prosecution of land crimes.

On his behalf,  Greg Tarrant, Chief Operating Officer REDEEM International noted that the safety of orphans, widows and vulnerable people is the most important thing that the justice system can guarantee and reminded the  ODPP that there vision is to ensure a crime free society.

 " Therefore, in order to bolster ODPP’s capacity to achieve that vision, REDEEM has undertaken to ensure that Prosecutors have access to all relevant documents, witnesses and information, and to support legal research and trial preparation." He stated.

He further said that  REDEEM has also undertaken to conduct customized training in order to enhance the capacity of Prosecutors to prosecute property grabbing related crimes more proficiently.

The Director of Public Prosecutions Jane Frances Abodo appreciated the partnership saying, “Land crimes cases form the highest percentage of cases we handle, and this is worrying because these land disputes more often than not result in the commission of other crimes as serious as murder and unlawful evictions ".

She noted that  once they tackle them, they  shall have put a dent on a wide range of criminal practices in Uganda highlighting  that the ODPP is doing a good job in prosecuting land-related cases and defending the rights of vulnerable persons amidst many and varied constraints such as limited resources, inadequate staff and the need to retool the capacity of ODPP.

These hope to partner with ODPP staff in their respective locations which include Gulu, Mbale, Iganga and Wakiso.”