Justice Lydia Mugambe during her day in the Ugandan court
HABARI DAILY I Kampala, Uganda I Justice Lydia Mugambe has been sentenced to six years in prison over forcing a young woman to work as a slave.
“I hereby sentence you to six-year in prison with hard labour,” a judge read her verdict.
Mugambe, 50, who is a United Nations judge was found guilty in March of conspiring to facilitate the commission of a breach of UK immigration law. She was also found guilty of facilitating travel with a view to exploitation, forcing someone to work, and conspiracy to intimidate a witness after a trial at Oxford Crown Court.
Caroline Haughey KC, prosecuting, told jurors during the trial that Mugambe exploited her victim by taking advantage of her lack of knowledge about employment rights and misleading her about why she came to the UK.
Jurors, who agreed that Mugambe conspired with Ugandan deputy high commissioner John Leonard Mugerwa to bring the young woman to the UK, said the duo took part in a “very dishonest” trade-off.
“The said Mugerwa arranged for the Ugandan High Commission to sponsor the woman’s entrance into the UK in exchange for Mugambe attempting to speak to a judge who was in charge of legal action in which Mugerwa was named,” they concluded.
Justice Mugambe was also found to have taken advantage of her status over the Ugandan woman in the most egregious way, while she studied for a PhD in law at the University of Oxford.
Mugambe, who is also a High Court judge in Uganda, reportedly stopped the woman holding down steady employment and forced her to work as her maid and provide childcare, prosecutors said.
Jurors also accepted that the defendant conspired to intimidate the woman to have her withdraw her support for the prosecution, or the charges against her to be dropped.
Justice Mugambe denied forcing the young woman to do household chores and said she always treated her with love, care and patience.
Justice Mugambe was appointed to the body’s judicial roster in May 2023, three months after police were called to her address in Oxfordshire.
Uganda government intervention
An official of the ministry of Foreign Affairs who Habari Daily talked to before Just Mugambe’s sentencing, confirmed that the Uganda Government is lining up a legal team to engage the UK administration over the judge’s dilemma.
He said that there is a possibility that there will be a swapping of prisoners between the two countries, in which Justice Mugambe could be traded with two British citizens currently serving sentences in Uganda.
Justice Mugambe is married to journalist Mark Ssali, who declined to comment about his wife’s debacle.
