Magara's family gave kidnappers everything they demanded

John Magara,the father to Suzan Magara whose body was discovered along Entebbe Express highway has said he first thought the kidnappers for petty criminals.

Magara,28, an  administrator for the family business and a cashier at Bwendero Dairy Farm in Hoima district was kidnapped on February 7, by unknown assailants. Her body was later recovered dumped 100 metres from the Kampala- Entebbe Express highway at Kitiko which is between Kigo and Kajjansi in Wakiso district on Tuesday.

Speaking to mourners at Our Lady of Africa Catholic church in Mbuya on Wednesday afternoon, the deceased's father  said  at first he thought the kidnappers were usual criminals,only for the worst to happen when he could no longer hear from them.

"I asked my wife to let me negotiate with them as i thought it was usual criminals whose motive was money,"the deceased's father told the congregation following the earlier calls to his wife.

"I thought they could wear out. As days went on,they could spend days without calling .I was forced to get  four phones."

The deceased's dad said that 10 days after she went missing,  the assailants called to inform the family that they had delivered an envelope with a message to him.

"There were  her two fingers and a video inscribed on as a must watch.I  gave the video  to police because i didn't want to watch it."

He said that it is police that informed him of the contents of the video clip that the then kidnappers had sent to him and the family members.

The deceased's grandfather,Lenny Muganwa had earlier described  the video clip as horrific .

" The  clip was showing how her two fingers had been cut off while she watched  and wailed,"Muganwa told the Nile Post earlier.

Ransom

John Magara said the family adhered to the demands of their daughter's kidnappers adding that it was unfortunate that they killed her.

"Flora Magara(her aunt) delivered what they had asked for and we waited for the good news. On Satuday we didn't see her. On Sunday it was the same story.I started imagining the reason they could not release her,"he said.

It is said that the assailants demanded for one million dollar from the family and it is believed the family gave it to them, contrary to earlier reports that the family gave the kidnappers only Shs 700 million.

John Magara  revealed that on Tuesday he got a call from President Museveni who had gotten involved in the investigations to announce that the body of his  daughter had been recovered.

"I went to identify the body and found it was hers. It was fresh.We cant tell the motive of this cruel act."

The deceased's grandfather  pointed out that the assailants  knew  very well the Muganwa family right from Hoima.

"It seems they knew us  and had done their homework well,"he said.

"On hearing the clip they sent,it seems they were from Hoima and knew us very well."

The kidnap and gruesome murder of  Suzan Magara will raise a number of questions on the motive of the killers who after receiving the ransom went ahead and killed her.