Magara murder: Investigating officer reveals how suspects were tracked

The Investigating officer in the murder case of Susan Magara says they managed to track down the nine accused persons after village mates with Yakub Byensi revealed to them that he was the one speaking in a viral audio, which was sent to her father, John Magara, demanding for a ransom.

Byensi, who is still at large, is said to have masterminded the kidnap of Magara for ransom.

Detective Assistant Inspector of Police (D/AIP) made the revelation as he testified in the case on December 20, 2024. High Court Judge Alex Mackay Ajiji is presiding over the trial.

Wandera revealed that after getting the information about Byensi, they got his phone numbers and retrieved call data which enabled them to get his associates.

The accused are Hajarah Nakandi, Ismail Bukenya, Mahad Kisalita, Yusuf Lubega, Muzamir Ssali, Hassan Kato, Hussein Wasswa, Abubaker Kyewolwa and Abbas Musa Buvumbo.

Concerning the discovery of Magara’s body, Wandera revealed that on February 27, 2018, at about 5:00am, he received a call from his boss, Johnson Olal, to accompany him to Kigo on Entebbe Road to check on the body of a woman that had been dumped in the area.

“At this time, the search for her body had been going on for 20 days. The team at the scene was headed by Abbas Byakagaba, now the Inspector General of Police (IGP). Her father came together with her aunt Flora Magara. They said they had been informed by the President about it. Flora Magara identified the body and we recovered it,” Wandera testified.

Wandera, also the 37th prosecution witness in the matter, testified under the guidance of chief state attorneys Joseph Kyomuhendo, Sherifah Nalwanga and Irene Nakimbugwe.

The matter has been adjourned to January 14 next year when Wandera will resume with his testimony.

The role of an investigating officer in criminal proceedings includes gathering evidence, conducting investigations and preparing reports to aid in the prosecution of suspects.

The defence lawyers in the matter are Richard Kumbuga, John Kabagambe, Benjamin Peter Wanda and Zaina Nabukenya.

The case

Susan, 28, a daughter of businessman John Magara was kidnapped on February 7, 2018, along Kabaka Anjagala Road in Mengo, a Kampala city suburb as she drove back to her Lungujja home about three kilometres away.

Her kidnappers then contacted the family and demanded $1m (about shillings 3.65 billion) before they could release her.

Despite the family having delivered $200,000 (about shillings 700 million) to the kidnappers, Magara was murdered and three weeks later, her body was recovered from Kigo in Wakiso district on February 27, 2018, where it had been dumped.

The allegations

The prosecution alleges that the accused and others still at large on February 7, 2018, kidnapped Susan with the intent to procure a ransom for her liberation from the danger of being murdered.

The indictment indicates that Magara was a victim of a ransom scheme hatched by Byensi, a former combatant with the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels who hails from Bunyoro like her and that he was known to her family as well Lubega who used to work in Container Village with Magara’s mother. Byensi is still at large.

Armed with insider information, the suspects, according to the prosecution, started trailing Magara until they kidnapped her in Lungujja on her way home.

They allegedly first took her to Nakandi’s home in Nateete and later to Amir Bukenya’s home in Konge II Makindye from where her two fingers were cut off and sent them to her family to show their determination to murder her if ransom money was not paid.

The indictment indicates that the decision to kill Magara was because releasing her would expose the kidnappers.

The prosecution alleges that part of the money was used by the accused persons to buy several pieces of the land in Buikwe and Luweero district respectively.