Da Dona
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- Dec 16, 2025
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The High Court Criminal Division has sentenced two of the nine people convicted in the 2018 kidnap and murder of Susan Magara to death, while the remaining seven have been handed life imprisonment.
Sentenced to Death are Nakandi Hajara and Abbas Musa Buwembo for their particularly brutal and central role in the crime.
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In addition to the sentences, the court ordered the confiscation and sale of properties found to have been acquired using proceeds from the ransom paid by Magara's family. The assets, including motor vehicles and parcels of land, will be sold, with the proceeds paid to Magara's family as compensation.
The sentences follow the conviction of the nine for kidnapping Magara with intent to procure a ransom before murdering her after holding her captive for nearly three weeks.
Justice Alex Mackay Ajiji had ruled that the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that the convicts 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 despite receiving the negotiated ransom.
The court relied on telecommunications data, DNA and forensic evidence, financial records, witness testimony, and other exhibits linking the convicts to the crime. It also found that several of the accused acquired expensive assets shortly after the ransom was paid, which formed part of the evidence leading to the confiscation order.
Susan Magara was abducted from Lungujja, Kampala, on February 7, 2018. After weeks in captivity and despite her family paying a negotiated ransom of $200,000, she was murdered. Her body was recovered on February 27, 2018, at Kitiko-Birongo village along the Entebbe Expressway, with a postmortem concluding that she died from manual strangulation.
Read more on jamiiforums.ug
The judgment brings to a close one of Uganda's most closely watched criminal cases, with the court holding the convicts fully accountable for the kidnapping, torture, ransom extortion, and murder of the 28-year-old.
