The High Court in Kampala has sentenced two people to death and handed life imprisonment to seven others over the 2018 kidnapping and murder of businesswoman Susan Magara.
In a ruling delivered on Wednesday, Justice Alex Mackay Ajiji sentenced Hajjarah Nakandi and Abbas Musa Buvumbo to death after finding that they played the leading role in Magara’s abduction, torture, prolonged detention and eventual killing.
The court sentenced the remaining seven convicts—Yusuf Lubega, Mahad Kisalita, Ismail Bukenya, Abubaker Kyewokya, Hassan Wasswa, Hussein Kato Miiro and Muzamir Ssali—to life imprisonment for their involvement in the crime.
Justice Ajiji also ordered that properties believed to have been purchased using the Shs700 million ransom be confiscated and sold, with the proceeds returned to Magara’s family.
All nine convicts have been granted 14 days to appeal the sentences.
The punishments come just days after the court found the group guilty on 3 August 2026 of kidnapping with intent to demand a ransom and murdering Magara. The convictions followed a lengthy trial in which the prosecution presented extensive evidence, including witness testimony, DNA analysis, telephone records, financial transactions and other exhibits linking the accused to the crime.
Susan Magara, then 28, was abducted on the evening of 7 February 2018 in the Lungujja-Mengo area of Kampala while driving home. At the time of her disappearance, she was speaking to a friend on the phone. The call reportedly captured her screams and sounds of a struggle before it suddenly disconnected. Her car was later recovered abandoned nearby with the engine still running.
Investigators established that Magara was held captive for about three weeks. During that time, her kidnappers cut off two of her fingers and sent them, together with a video recording, to her family to pressure them into paying a ransom.
Her family eventually paid US$200,000, equivalent to about Shs700 million, hoping to secure her release. However, despite receiving the money, the kidnappers killed her between 25 and 27 February 2018.
A postmortem examination concluded that she died from asphyxia caused by strangulation or suffocation. Her body was later discovered in the Kitiko-Birongo area near the Entebbe Expressway.
In his judgment, Justice Ajiji ruled that the kidnapping and murder had been meticulously planned and carried out for financial gain, describing it as a calculated criminal enterprise motivated by the desire to extort money from the victim’s family.
