JUSTICE SERVED FINALLY: TWO SENTENCED TO DEATH, SEVEN JAILED FOR LIFE OVER SUSAN MAGARA MURDER

Hajjarah Nakandi Sentenced to Death for coming up with the decision to Kill Susan Magara after she had reportedly identified her Captors.

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The High Court Criminal Division in Kampala has sentenced two people to death and handed life imprisonment to seven others for the 2018 kidnap and murder of businesswoman Susan Magara, bringing to a close one of Uganda’s most notorious criminal cases.

In a judgment delivered on Wednesday, Justice Alex Mackay Ajiji sentenced Hajjarah Nakandi and Abbas Musa Buvumbo to death after finding that they played the most direct and brutal roles in Magara’s abduction, prolonged captivity, torture and eventual murder.

The court sentenced Yusuf Lubega, twin brothers Hussein Wasswa and Hassan Kato Miiro, Muzamir Ssali, Muhammad Kisalita, Abubakar Kyewolya, and Ismail Bukenya to life imprisonment for their participation in what the judge described as one of Uganda’s most horrific and meticulously planned murders.

Bukenya, an imam at a makeshift mosque in Usafi, was found to have coordinated meetings where the kidnapping was planned and later managed the distribution of the ransom money. Justice Ajiji ruled that the offences fell within the category of the “rarest of the rare” cases under Uganda’s sentencing guidelines, warranting the maximum sentence.

“The offences were horrific, brutal, callous, premeditated, calculated and preplanned. At most, it was a senseless killing because they had already obtained the ransom,” the judge said.

The court heard that Susan Magara, 28, a cashier at Bwendero Dairy Farm, was abducted on the evening of February 7, 2018, while driving home in Kampala. At the time of her abduction, she was speaking on the phone with her friend, Yusuf Muhindo, who heard a violent struggle and her screams before the call abruptly ended. Her car was later found in Lungujja with its engine still running.

The kidnappers initially demanded between USD 1 million and USD 1.5 million before reducing the ransom to USD 200,000 (about 700 million Shillings), which Magara’s family eventually paid.

Despite receiving the money, the kidnappers cut off two of Magara’s fingers and sent them to her family together with a video showing her pleading with her father to pay the ransom.

Her body was recovered on February 27, 2018, in Kitiko-Birongo village along the Entebbe Expressway. A postmortem examination established that she died from manual strangulation leading to suffocation. Justice Ajiji said the evidence showed that Magara endured nearly three weeks of psychological and physical torture.

She remained blindfolded throughout her captivity before she was eventually suffocated and strangled because she had become capable of identifying her captors. According to the judge, the cruelty inflicted on the victim demonstrated that the convicts acted with a common intention driven solely by financial gain.

The judge found that Nakandi ensured Magara remained blindfolded throughout her captivity, while Buvumbo carried out the most brutal acts by amputating her fingers, administering ketamine, suffocating her and manually strangling her to death.

The remaining convicts were found to have participated in planning the kidnapping, transporting the victim, guarding her during captivity, procuring food, collecting the ransom and organising meetings to distribute the proceeds.

Justice Ajiji said the offences targeted a young woman and underscored the need for deterrent sentences against organized kidnapping syndicates that continue to threaten public safety. “It is important to deliver a sentence that shall deter other people from targeting women,” the judge said, adding that life imprisonment for the remaining convicts would protect society from organized criminals motivated by ransom and reinforce public confidence in the administration of justice.

Susan Magara who was brutally murdered even after her family paid a ransom of $200,000.

During mitigation, defense lawyers led by Richard Kambuga asked the court to impose lighter sentences, arguing that the convicts had families and children who depended on them. Kambuga also contended that imposing the death penalty would amount to revenge rather than justice and supported his submissions with Biblical teachings.

The prosecution, led by Chief State Attorney Joseph Kyomuhendo alongside Irene Nakimbugwe and Sharifah Nalwanga, opposed the request, arguing that the case fell within the category of the “rarest of the rare” offences deserving capital punishment.

The prosecution also relied on Biblical principles to support its submissions. Justice Ajiji remarked on the unusual legal exchange, noting that a Christian defence lawyer had cited Biblical teachings while representing Muslim accused persons, whereas a Muslim prosecutor similarly relied on Biblical principles while seeking the death penalty.

The judge also relied on the Supreme Court decision in Ramathan Magara v Uganda (2014), which held that in exceptionally grave crimes, the personal circumstances of offenders should carry less weight than the seriousness of the offence. “I agree that the death sentence is appropriate.

These offences were callous, cruel, premeditated and committed in pursuit of money with a common purpose,” Justice Ajiji ruled. The court found that the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that the nine convicts jointly planned and executed Magara’s kidnapping, held her captive for nearly three weeks, demanded ransom, severed two of her fingers to compel payment and ultimately murdered her to eliminate a witness who could identify them.

The conviction was based on testimony from 46 prosecution witnesses, including telecommunications forensic experts, DNA analysts, pathologists and investigators, as well as more than 80 exhibits, including phone records, forensic reports, bank statements, land transaction documents, motor vehicle ownership records and crime scene reconstruction evidence.

The court further found that several convicts acquired expensive assets, including land, commercial trucks and motor vehicles, shortly after receiving the ransom money but failed to provide credible explanations for the source of the funds.

Justice Ajiji consequently ordered the forfeiture of 11 motor vehicles, land, certificates of title, logbooks and other assets acquired using the ransom proceeds. He directed that the recovered assets or their monetary value be transferred to Magara’s family as compensation, saying the orders were intended to ensure that none of the convicts benefited from the proceeds of crime.

The judge also dismissed defense challenges to the prosecution’s telecommunications evidence, holding that the phone records, forensic findings, financial transactions, witness testimony and the conduct of the accused formed an unbroken chain of evidence proving their common intention and participation in the offences.

Before concluding the proceedings, Justice Ajiji commended the security agencies for conducting extensive investigations into what he described as a sophisticated criminal enterprise.

Nakandi’s husband broke down in tears and walked out of the courtroom moments after the judge sentenced his wife to death. In contrast, the nine convicts, most of them relatively young, showed little visible emotion throughout the proceedings. They remained composed as the court handed down two death sentences and seven life imprisonment terms.