Ugandan man arrested in SA sent home to face murder charge

Police on Wednesday extradited a Ugandan man accused of kidnapping and murder in his home country.

SAPS spokesman Brigadier Vish Naidoo said the "fugitive" Patrick Kasaija - also known as Patrick Agaba - was sent back to his home country with the help of Interpol.

Kasaija had been living in Midrand, north of Johannesburg.

"On February 7 2018 in Uganda, a victim was kidnapped by unknown persons while on her way home from work," Naidoo said in a statement.

"The culprits telephoned her family, demanding a ransom of $1m. The victim’s family paid some of the money but their daughter was not returned. On February 26 2018, the body of the victim's mutilated body was recovered, dumped along a road.

"The Ugandan authority has gathered sufficient evidence which incriminates Mr Patrick Kasaija in the kidnapping and murder of the victim."

Kasaija was arrested on March 7 last year at his Midrand home and appeared in court on the same day.

Various legal processes had been ongoing since then.

"The minister of justice and constitutional development granted an order that he should be extradited to Uganda. The justice and correctional services of the Republic of South Africa, in terms of the Extradition Act, ordered that the fugitive ... be surrendered to the Republic of Uganda,"  Naidoo said.

"This extradition was as a result of the good collaboration and cooperation the South African law enforcement agencies and Ugandan authorities."

Naidoo added that this extradition "should be a message to all criminals that they cannot commit crimes elsewhere in the world and use South Africa as a hiding place".