Two convicts in Susan Magara murder case sentenced to death

Two of the nine people convicted over the 2018 kidnap and murder of businesswoman Susan Magara have been sentenced to death, while seven others received life imprisonment.

High Court Judge Alex Mackay Ajiji on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, handed the death penalty to Hajara Nakandi and Abbas Musa Buwembo after finding their roles in the crime warranted the maximum punishment.

The other seven convicts; Yusuf Lubega, Mahad Kisalita, Ismail Bukenya, Abubaker Kyewokya, Hassan Wasswa, Hussein Kato Miiro and Muzamir Ssali, were sentenced to life imprisonment.

The court also ordered the confiscation and sale of properties acquired using ransom money, with proceeds to be handed to Magara’s family.

Magara, 28, was abducted on February 7, 2018, as she drove home through Lungujja in Kampala. She was a former cashier at Bwendero Dairy Farm and the daughter of businessman John Magara.

A friend who was speaking to her on phone at the time heard a struggle and her screams before the call abruptly ended. Her Toyota RAV4 was later found abandoned with the engine running and her phones still inside.

The kidnappers held her captive for nearly three weeks while demanding ransom from her family. They initially demanded up to $1 million but later received about $200,000 (about Shs700 million).

During her captivity, the kidnappers cut off two of her fingers and sent them with a video of her pleading for help as they pressured her family to pay the ransom.

Despite receiving the money, the group killed Magara between February 25 and February 27, 2018. Her body was found dumped at Kitiko-Birongo along the Entebbe Expressway on February 27.

Court evidence showed that she was injected with ketamine before she died from suffocation.

Prosecutors told court that the crime was carefully planned and driven by financial motives. They argued that the murder was committed with extreme cruelty because the suspects feared Magara could identify them.

The prosecution linked Nakandi to providing a house where Magara was held and influencing the decision to kill her, while Buwembo was accused of directly participating in the mutilation and killing.

Other convicts were linked to roles including surveillance, guarding the victim, transporting her, collecting ransom and benefiting from proceeds of the crime.

The nine suspects were arrested in April 2018 during a joint operation involving police, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces and military intelligence. They were arrested at Usafi Mosque in Mengo-Kisenyi, Kampala, where prosecutors said the plot had been planned.

They denied the charges and spent years on remand as the trial continued.

The case involved extensive evidence, including testimony from more than 40 prosecution witnesses, DNA analysis, phone records, digital evidence, financial records and forensic findings.

On August 3, 2026, Justice Ajiji convicted all nine suspects, ruling that they had jointly planned and executed Magara’s abduction, demanded ransom, tortured her and killed her.

The court’s sentencing brings an end to one of Uganda’s most high-profile kidnapping and murder cases, although alleged masterminds Yakub Byensi and Hakim Lugolobi remain at large.