Da Dona
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- Dec 16, 2025
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The Criminal Division of the High Court in Kampala has convicted nine people over the 2018 kidnap and murder of Susan Magara, the daughter of businessman John Magara, bringing to a close one of Uganda's most high-profile criminal trials.
RIP, Susan Magara
In a judgment delivered , Justice Alex Mackay Ajiji found Yusuf Lubega, Mahad Kisalita, Ismail Bukenya, Abubaker Kyewokya, Hassan Wasswa, Abbas Musa Buwembo, Hussein Kato Miiro, Hajjara Nakandi and Muzamir Ssali guilty of kidnapping Magara with intent to procure a ransom before murdering her after holding her captive for nearly three weeks.
The nine had denied charges of kidnap with intent to procure a ransom and murder. However, the judge ruled that the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that they jointly planned and executed the abduction, demanded a ransom from Magara's family, severed two of her fingers to force payment, and later killed her because she could identify her captors.
Court heard that on the evening of February 7, 2018, Magara was speaking on the phone to her friend, Yusuf Muhindo, when he suddenly heard a violent struggle. Muhindo testified that Magara screamed, "Temunkuba" ("Don't beat me"), before two male voices were heard and the call was disconnected after about 40 seconds.
Muhindo immediately alerted police and informed Magara's family. That same night, her Toyota RAV4 was found abandoned in Lungujja with its engine still running, while her mobile phones remained inside the vehicle. Justice Ajiji said the evidence established that she had been forcibly abducted.
The following day, the kidnappers contacted Magara's family, initially demanding between $1 million and $1.5 million in ransom. After negotiations with her father, the amount was reduced to $200,000 (about Shs700 million), which the family eventually paid.
Despite the payment, the kidnappers did not release Magara. Instead, on February 19, 2018, her father was instructed to collect a package from a fuel station containing two of her severed fingers and a flash disk labelled "Must Watch." The video on the flash disk showed Magara pleading with her father to pay the ransom.
Digital forensic evidence confirmed the authenticity of the video, while DNA analysis established that the severed fingers belonged to Magara. The court found she was alive when her fingers were cut off, describing the act as deliberate torture intended to pressure the family into paying.
The ransom was eventually delivered on February 23, 2018, at Kanaaba in Ndejje. However, Magara's body was recovered four days later at Kitiko-Birongo village along the Entebbe Expressway. A postmortem concluded that she died from asphyxia caused by manual strangulation.
The prosecution, led by Chief State Attorney Joseph Kyomuhendo alongside Irene Nakimbugwe and Sharifah Nalwanga, called 46 witnesses and relied on more than 80 exhibits, including DNA reports, communication records, forensic reports, crime scene evidence, bank statements, land purchase agreements and motor vehicle ownership records.
Justice Ajiji placed significant weight on telecommunications evidence presented by forensic expert Frank Nyakairu, whose analysis showed the accused remained in constant communication before, during and after the kidnapping. The data also placed several of them at ransom collection points and other locations linked to the crime.
The court further relied on evidence that some of the accused led investigators to locations where Magara had been held, where ransom was collected, and where her body was dumped. Justice Ajiji ruled that such information could only have been known by people directly involved in the offences.
The judge also found that several of the convicts acquired expensive assets, including land, commercial trucks and other motor vehicles, shortly after the ransom was paid. He rejected their explanations for the source of the money, ruling that the acquisitions were strong circumstantial evidence that they had benefited from the ransom proceeds.
The defence argued that the prosecution had failed to directly link the accused to the crimes and maintained that the alleged masterminds, Yakub Byensi and Hakim Lugolobi, remain at large. However, Justice Ajiji dismissed those arguments, saying the communication records, forensic evidence, financial records and witness testimony formed a complete chain of evidence proving the accused acted with a common intention.
He also ruled that the continued absence of the alleged masterminds does not diminish the criminal responsibility of the nine convicts, whose participation in the kidnapping and murder had been proved beyond reasonable doubt.
The court is expected to hear mitigation before passing sentence.
Source: Observer
In a judgment delivered , Justice Alex Mackay Ajiji found Yusuf Lubega, Mahad Kisalita, Ismail Bukenya, Abubaker Kyewokya, Hassan Wasswa, Abbas Musa Buwembo, Hussein Kato Miiro, Hajjara Nakandi and Muzamir Ssali guilty of kidnapping Magara with intent to procure a ransom before murdering her after holding her captive for nearly three weeks.
The nine had denied charges of kidnap with intent to procure a ransom and murder. However, the judge ruled that the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that they jointly planned and executed the abduction, demanded a ransom from Magara's family, severed two of her fingers to force payment, and later killed her because she could identify her captors.
Court heard that on the evening of February 7, 2018, Magara was speaking on the phone to her friend, Yusuf Muhindo, when he suddenly heard a violent struggle. Muhindo testified that Magara screamed, "Temunkuba" ("Don't beat me"), before two male voices were heard and the call was disconnected after about 40 seconds.
Muhindo immediately alerted police and informed Magara's family. That same night, her Toyota RAV4 was found abandoned in Lungujja with its engine still running, while her mobile phones remained inside the vehicle. Justice Ajiji said the evidence established that she had been forcibly abducted.
The following day, the kidnappers contacted Magara's family, initially demanding between $1 million and $1.5 million in ransom. After negotiations with her father, the amount was reduced to $200,000 (about Shs700 million), which the family eventually paid.
Despite the payment, the kidnappers did not release Magara. Instead, on February 19, 2018, her father was instructed to collect a package from a fuel station containing two of her severed fingers and a flash disk labelled "Must Watch." The video on the flash disk showed Magara pleading with her father to pay the ransom.
Digital forensic evidence confirmed the authenticity of the video, while DNA analysis established that the severed fingers belonged to Magara. The court found she was alive when her fingers were cut off, describing the act as deliberate torture intended to pressure the family into paying.
The ransom was eventually delivered on February 23, 2018, at Kanaaba in Ndejje. However, Magara's body was recovered four days later at Kitiko-Birongo village along the Entebbe Expressway. A postmortem concluded that she died from asphyxia caused by manual strangulation.
The prosecution, led by Chief State Attorney Joseph Kyomuhendo alongside Irene Nakimbugwe and Sharifah Nalwanga, called 46 witnesses and relied on more than 80 exhibits, including DNA reports, communication records, forensic reports, crime scene evidence, bank statements, land purchase agreements and motor vehicle ownership records.
Justice Ajiji placed significant weight on telecommunications evidence presented by forensic expert Frank Nyakairu, whose analysis showed the accused remained in constant communication before, during and after the kidnapping. The data also placed several of them at ransom collection points and other locations linked to the crime.
The court further relied on evidence that some of the accused led investigators to locations where Magara had been held, where ransom was collected, and where her body was dumped. Justice Ajiji ruled that such information could only have been known by people directly involved in the offences.
The judge also found that several of the convicts acquired expensive assets, including land, commercial trucks and other motor vehicles, shortly after the ransom was paid. He rejected their explanations for the source of the money, ruling that the acquisitions were strong circumstantial evidence that they had benefited from the ransom proceeds.
The defence argued that the prosecution had failed to directly link the accused to the crimes and maintained that the alleged masterminds, Yakub Byensi and Hakim Lugolobi, remain at large. However, Justice Ajiji dismissed those arguments, saying the communication records, forensic evidence, financial records and witness testimony formed a complete chain of evidence proving the accused acted with a common intention.
He also ruled that the continued absence of the alleged masterminds does not diminish the criminal responsibility of the nine convicts, whose participation in the kidnapping and murder had been proved beyond reasonable doubt.
The court is expected to hear mitigation before passing sentence.
Source: Observer
