Assessors to give opinion in Magara murder case
“The prosecution adduced in court 46 witnesses while the accused adduced 20 witnesses. I invite you to critically examine the evidence of both the prosecution and the defence and advise this court whether to convict or acquit all the accused persons,” Ajiji said.
Susan Magara, the 28-year-old daughter of businessman John Magara, was kidnapped on February 7, 2018, along Kabaka Anjagala Road in Mengo, a Kampala suburb, as she drove back to her home about three kilometres away. (File photo)
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As the assessors gear up to advise the court today, Thursday, on whether to convict or acquit the nine people accused of the kidnap and murder of Susan Magara, presiding High Court judge Alex Mackay Ajiji has warned them not to allow their minds to be clouded by the emotions surrounding the case, but instead to base their opinion on the evidence adduced in court.
Justice Ajiji issued the warning to the assessors yesterday, July 29, 2026, as he summed up the case ahead of their opinion to the court today at 2:00 pm.
“The prosecution adduced in court 46 witnesses while the accused adduced 20 witnesses. I invite you to critically examine the evidence of both the prosecution and the defence and advise this court whether to convict or acquit all the accused persons,” Ajiji said.
Assessors are non-lawyers who, by law, sit alongside the trial judge during High Court criminal trials and, at the end of the trial, are required to advise the judge on whether to convict or acquit the accused persons.
However, the assessors' opinions are non-binding, and the trial judge may decide not to follow them.
The accused are Hassan Wasswa, Hussein Kato Miiro, Hajara Nakandi, Yusuf Lubega, Mahad Kisalita, Abbas Musa Buvumbo, Abubaker Kyewolwa, Ismail Bukenya and Muzamir Ssali.
They have been in detention since April 2018, when they were arrested over the alleged offences. This means they have been on remand for more than eight years.
In February last year, the court ruled that they had a case to answer after analysing the evidence of 46 prosecution witnesses.
The murder
Susan Magara, the 28-year-old daughter of businessman John Magara, was kidnapped on February 7, 2018, along Kabaka Anjagala Road in Mengo, a Kampala suburb, as she drove back to her home about three kilometres away.
Her kidnappers then contacted her family and demanded $1 million (about sh3.65b) as ransom.
The court heard that her two fingers were chopped off by the ransom seekers, packed in an envelope together with a flash drive containing footage of the act, and sent to her family in a bid to compel them to pay the ransom.
Despite the family delivering $200,000 (about sh700m) to the ransom seekers, Magara was brutally murdered by her captors.
Chief State Attorneys Joseph Kyomuhendo, Sherifah Nalwanga and Irene Nakimbugwe are prosecuting the case, while John Kabagambe, Richard Kabagambe and Simon Wanda represent the nine accused persons.
The case
The prosecution alleges that the accused, together with others still at large, kidnapped Magara on February 7, 2018, with intent to procure a ransom for her release.
The indictment states that Magara was a victim of a ransom scheme allegedly hatched by Yakub Byensi, a former Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) combatant who hails from Bunyoro, like Susan, and was known to her family.
Armed with that information, the suspects, according to the prosecution, began trailing her until they kidnapped her. They allegedly first held her at Nakandi's home in Nateete before later taking her to Bukenya's home in Konge II, Makindye division, Kampala.
Magara's two fingers were chopped off and sent to her family to show how determined the kidnappers were to kill her if the ransom was not paid.
The indictment states that the suspects resolved to kill her because releasing her would expose them.
The prosecution says the suspects used part of the ransom money to buy several motor vehicles and land in Buikwe and Luwero districts.