"Beautiful Suzzie" Magara's kidnappers never took the ransom money

Susan Magara (28) was kidnapped by unknown people on 7th February in Kampala where she worked in her the family’s business.  Her car, handbag and phone were abandoned at the scene.  They did not want to take or use her registered phone line to avoid being tracked.  Hailing from Bunyoro, she was a granddaughter of Museveni's long serving Deputy Prime Minister, Henry Muganwa Kajura.  Though Museveni claims to have been informed on 18th February, he must have been aware from day one basing on security briefs.  Maybe 18th Feb is when the family approached him for financial help.

The kidnappers first contacted Susan's mother (her mother died 15 years ago) two days after the incident.  They demanded for a ransom of US$ 1M (36.5B Shillings).  Her father joined the negotiations at a later stage.  Why did they first approach the step mother when it is the father who was to raise the ransom money????  A fellow Munyoro top police officer AIGP Abas Byakagaba who heads the Directorate of Oil and Gas security was in charge of the rescue operation.  The victim is from Bunyoro, the oil is drilled in Bunyoro and AIGP Byakagaba is also from Bunyoro!!!! 

The victim’s father met Museveni twice at State House on top of regular telephone calls (twice a day) by Museveni to find out the progress of rescue efforts.  Under normal circumstances it should have been the State to brief the victim's family on progress and not vice versa. Ten days into the episode, the kidnappers sent a message to the victim's father directing him to pick a parcel from a certain spot along the Southern Bypass.  In the parcel were two of the victim's chopped off fingers and a memory card containing a video recording of the victim pleading for mercy.  The victim’s father had pleaded with Museveni to allow the family to deal with the captors without involving the security agencies.

It has also emerged that there is an audio recording of a male kidnapper speaking in the local Runyoro dialect with family members over payment of the said ransom.  They even had a specific choice of the family member that they wanted to be the one to deliver the ransom money!!!!  In the audio message the kidnappers also threatened to kill the victim if the family involved security agencies.  Implying the kidnappers had the capacity to know if the family was involving security.

On Saturday 24th the family is said to have delivered the ransom money and waited for their daughter to return home. They never heard from the kidnappers again but on the morning of 26th February 2017 Museveni called the victim's father to inform him that the daughter had been killed.  The father is said to have rushed to the scene at the Southern by pass where the body was recovered.  According to the father, the victim's body was still fresh suggesting that she had been murdered the previous night.  The kidnappers don't look so stupid to dump the body in the same locality they had earlier dropped the parcel containing the victim's two fingers.

In his eulogy, Museveni romantically described the victim as "... treasure like beautiful Suzzie".  Now how would her boyfriend describe her!!!!  Museveni went ahead to express regrets over how he had “unfortunately had not had the opportunity to meet" her.  Why would a head of state wish to have met an ordinary young girl!!!!!!  Could the victim have been earmarked for a job at State House since she was from the state beneficiary family? 

How come Museveni did not eulogize the 49 years old Case Clinic Accountant, Francis Akalungar who was kidnapped and his body burnt beyond recognition by regime functionaries in January 2018?  What about 12 years old Najib Ngobi who was shot dead by a soldier in Iganga on January 4th, 2018!!! 

What of the 3 years old Viola Nakawuka who was shot dead and her mother fatally wounded by rogue Flying Squad operatives who were on rampage in Guluma village, Mityana district!!!

What about the recent serial murders of 27 women who were being mysteriously and gruesomely murdered in different parts of Kampala and Wakiso but profiled as prostitutes? 

What about the latest incident where 17 years old Basiluka Maliza from Luuka who was raped and murdered on 8th February 2018? 

The list is endless but may be it is because the others were not as beautiful as "Suzzie”!!!! 

What about the children in northern Uganda who are suffering from nodding disease?

President Yoweri Museveni went ahead to assure the nation that the "killers will be got because there are some clues they left behind".  He ought to know that all crimes involving physical contact leaves traces/clues but what matters is how to make use of those clues during the process of investigations.  Finally, he warned the youth against indiscipline and to avoid drugs. Alcohol and prostitution.  In the circumstances, how relevant was such advice; could it be that having been one of the investigators he became aware of the late Susan's "indiscipline ".

Museveni sanctioned a squad of his beast so called counter terrorism officers.  Despite the pleading from family members. Museveni wanted a show force by rescuing the victim.   His rescue squad must have been electronically monitoring the communication between the victim's family negotiating team and the kidnappers hence the source of the audio recording.  The same rescue squad must have under estimated the kidnapper's capacity to know that they were being monitored if they ever attempted to pick the ransom money.  There is a high likelihood of a foiled attempt to net the kidnappers if they ever attempted to pick the said ransom money.  Either they grew suspicious and opted not to pick the money or they were killed (together with the hostage) by the rescue team in the process.

Whatever the case, the ransom money ended up in the hands of the rescue squad and not in the hands of the kidnappers.  Apart from the victim's offering family, the kidnappers and the rescue squad, no one else knew about the delivery of the ransom.  Since the rescue squad was opposed to delivery of the said ransom money, even if the family opted to deliver it secretly, the rescue squad would know because it was electronically monitoring their communication. The police offered a record breaking bounty of 100M shillings to whoever can identify the audio voice recording.  A post mortem was quickly done and the body is already buried in Hoima.  The motive for the kidnap is not yet and may never be known.

This was a typical botched up operation just like it was the case with the LRA's Vincent Otti who ended up being killed, Operation Lightening Storm in Garamba against the LRA and other sensitive operations that have failed.  In the instant case, the said kidnappers were highly skilled and well versed with the operations of electronic communication surveillance system.  They knew the regime's technical surveillance capabilities and limitations. The 20 days of sustained engagement (using over 17 different SIM cards) with the victim's family demonstrates their level of confidence.  It is only active or peripheral security operatives who can afford to play about with unregistered SIM cards.  Moreover, fake SIM cards, fake motor vehicle and motorcycle number plates are a preserve of security agencies.

The good news is that the incident suits into the regime agenda of keeping the population in perpetual fear.  It serves as a curtain riser to any other similar future incidents.

Remember that initially, the kidnappers had no intention to kill Susan and that is the reason they kept her alive for 20 days.

Watch the space and RIP Susan.

INFORMATION IS POWER AND DEFIANTLY "HITTING ON THE HEAD" IS THE WAY TO GO