Lady Justice Lydia Mugambe
HABARI DAILY I Kampala, Uganda I The Uganda Government has kicked off a campaign to save the neck of embattled judge, Lydia Mugambe, who is on the brink of being sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labor in the United Kingdom (UK).
Lady Justice Mugambe, 49, was convicted of multiple immigration and modern slavery offences following an investigation by the Oxford Crown Court in the UK, offences that attracts life imprisonment as the maximum penalty.
She has been a resident at Lyne Road, Kidlington, while pursuing her doctoral studies at Oxford University. She was found guilty by a unanimous jury on Thursday, March 13.
According to an official at the ministry of Foreign Affairs, efforts are underway to engage the UK Government ahead of her sentencing on May 2.
“If we wait to take action after she had been sentenced, we would be compelled to deal with prison authorities to issue a reversal, which is very cumbersome. We have chosen to act at this stage before the conviction and before this issue escalates,” said a source on condition of anonymity.
He said that in case Government fails to bail her out, it may make a request of last resort to the UK Government to let her serve her sentence here in Uganda.
The official further disclosed that preliminary investigations have discovered that the maid in contention might be trying to use Mugambe’s predicament to gain permanent residence in the UK.
Habari Daily has also learnt that under the UK law, individuals who can prove they were trafficked or exploited are fast tracked to legal status, including protection from deportation.
The Oxford Crown court convicted Mugambe
Further details show that the young lady was an adult with full mobility and independence, yet the prosecution said she was held in conditions amounting to servitude.
“Research has shown that the maid encountered some people in the UK during her routine duties, who convinced her to report as case of alleged enslavement to the authorities as a way to secure residency in the UK.”
The campaign to save Mugambe, could also succeed through a prisoner swap initiative, in which the UK must heve a prisoner in Uganda under almost similar circumstances. Alternatively, Government may choose to aiding her in the appeal process.
The offences
Justice Mugambe was convicted of one count of conspiring to facilitate a breach of UK immigration law, one count of requiring a person to perform forced labour, and one count of conspiracy to intimidate a witness.
In the UK, modern slavery offences are primarily governed by the Modern Slavery Act 2015, which includes crimes like slavery, forced labour, and human trafficking.
Caroline Haughey KC, prosecuting, told jurors during the trial: “Lydia Mugambe has exploited and abused [her alleged victim], taking advantage of her lack of understanding of her rights to properly paid employment and deceiving her as to the purpose of her coming to the UK.”
Investigation shad earlier on revealed that Mugambe had obtained a visa for the victim to work in the UK, under the false pretense that the woman would work for Ambassador Mugerwa, the then Deputy High Commissioner at the Ugandan Embassy in London.
Who is Justice Mugambe?
She has been a Judge at the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals since May 2023. She has also been serving as a Judge of he High Court of Uganda since 2013.
Justice Mugambe also previously worked at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) both as a legal officer within the chamber’s legal Support Section and as Appeals Counsel within the Appeals and Legal Advisory Division of the ICTR Office of the Prosecutor.
Between 2000 and 2005, she worked as a judicial officer within the Ugandan Judiciary. She was called to the Ugandan bar in 1998 and is currently a Doctoral researcher in law at the University of Oxford, UK.
