Assessors to give opinion in Magara murder case
Susan’s two fingers were chopped off and sent to her family to show them how determined they were to kill their daughter if the ransom money was not paid.
Prosecution alleges that the accused and others still at large on February 7, 2018, kidnapped Susan with intent to procure a ransom for her liberation from the danger of being murdered.
KAMPALA - After close to three years of a protracted trial, High Court judge Alex Mackay Ajiji will on Wednesday this week (July 29) sum up the evidence in the Susan Magara murder case to the assessors to enable them to give their opinion.
Assessors are non-lawyers who, by law, sit alongside the trial judge in the High Court criminal trials, and are required to advise the judge at the end of the trial to either convict or acquit the accused persons.
However, the assessors’ opinions are non-binding on the judges, as they can completely decide to ignore them.
There are nine suspects accused of murdering Magara, and they are: Hassan Wasswa, Hussein Kato Miiro, Hajara Nakandi, Yusuf Lubega, Mahad Kisalita, Abbas Musa Buvumbo, Abubaker Kyewolwa, Ismail Bukenya and Muzamir Ssali.
The accused have been in detention since April 2018 when they were arrested over the heinous crime; they have been on remand for over six years.
Evidence adduced in court shows that all the suspects belonged to the makeshift mosque at Usafi in Mengo-Kisenyi in Kampala.
In February last year, the court ruled that they had a case to answer after it analysed the evidence from 43 prosecution witnesses.
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 kilometers away.
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 kilometers away.
Her kidnappers then contacted her family and demanded one million US dollars (about sh3.65b) as ransom.
Court heard that her two fingers were chopped off by the ransom seekers, packed them in an envelope together with a flash disc showing the footage as they were being cut off and sent the same to her family in a bid to compel the family members to pay the ransom.
Despite the family having delivered $200,000 (about sh700m) to the ransom seekers, Susan 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
Prosecution alleges that the accused and others still at large on February 7, 2018, kidnapped Susan with intent to procure a ransom for her liberation from the danger of being murdered.
The indictment indicates that Susan was a victim of a ransom scheme hatched by Yakub Byensi, a former Allied Democratic Force (ADF) combatant who hails from Bunyoro just like Susan, and that he was known to her family.
Armed with the information, the suspects allegedly started trailing Susan until they kidnapped her. The suspects allegedly first held her at Nakandi's home in Nateete and later at accused Bukenya’s home in Konge II in Makindye Division, Kampala.
Susan’s two fingers were chopped off and sent to her family to show them how determined they were to kill their daughter if the ransom money was not paid.
The indictment indicates that the suspects resolved to kill her because releasing her would expose them.
Prosecution says the suspects used part of the money to procure several motor vehicles and land in Buikwe and Luwero districts.