The High Court has sentenced Hajara Nakandi and Abbas Musa Buwembo to death for their roles in the 2018 kidnap and murder of businesswoman Susan Magara.
Delivering the sentence on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, High Court Judge Alex Mackay Ajiji ruled that the pair played central roles in the brutal crime, warranting the maximum punishment under the law.
The remaining seven convicts—Yusuf Lubega, Mahad Kisalita, Ismail Bukenya, Abubaker Kyewokya, Hassan Wasswa, Hussein Kato Miiro, and Muzamir Ssali—were each sentenced to life imprisonment.
The court also ordered that properties acquired using the ransom money be confiscated and sold, with the proceeds awarded to Magara’s family.
Susan Magara, 28, was abducted on February 7, 2018, while driving home through Lungujja in Kampala.
A friend she was speaking to on the phone reportedly heard her scream before the call abruptly ended. Her Toyota RAV4 was later found abandoned with the engine still running and her mobile phones left inside.
The kidnappers held her captive for nearly three weeks while demanding a ransom. They initially demanded $1 million before accepting approximately $200,000 (about Shs700 million) from the family.
During her captivity, the attackers cut off two of her fingers and sent them together with a video of her pleading for help in an attempt to pressure her family into paying.
Despite receiving the ransom money, the kidnappers murdered Magara between February 25 and 27, 2018.
Her body was later discovered at Kitiko-Birongo along the Entebbe Expressway.
Court heard that she had been injected with ketamine before dying from suffocation.
Prosecutors described the crime as meticulously planned and driven by financial gain, arguing that the suspects ultimately killed Magara because they feared she could identify them.
According to the prosecution, Nakandi provided the house where Magara was held and influenced the decision to kill her, while Buwembo directly participated in her torture, mutilation, and murder.
The remaining convicts played various roles, including surveillance, guarding the victim, transporting her, collecting ransom money, and benefiting from the proceeds of the crime.
The nine suspects were arrested in April 2018 during a joint security operation involving the Uganda Police Force, the UPDF, and military intelligence at Usafi Mosque in Mengo-Kisenyi, where investigators said the kidnapping plot had been planned.
Throughout the trial, the suspects denied all charges.
The prosecution presented more than 40 witnesses, alongside DNA evidence, phone records, digital evidence, financial records, and forensic findings.
On August 3, 2026, Justice Ajiji convicted all nine accused after finding they had jointly planned and executed Magara’s kidnapping, demanded ransom, tortured her, and murdered her.
The High Court has sentenced Hajara Nakandi to death for coming up with the decision to kill 28 year old Susan Magara after she had identified her kidnappers. 7 others have been sentenced to life imprisonment. Judge Alex Ajiji has appreciated investigators in this case. pic.twitter.com/dKq2fQsY1C
— Judith Kukunda (@judith_kukunda) August 5, 2026
Although the sentencing concludes one of Uganda’s most notorious kidnapping and murder cases, alleged masterminds Yakub Byensi and Hakim Lugolobi remain at large.
