Justice Mugambe
HABARI DAILY I Kampala, Uganda I A cross section of Ugandans has condemned the 6-year prison sentence slapped upon Justice Lydia Mugambe, by the Oxford Crown Court. They termed the verdict “an extra judicial ruling,” that lacks any grain of truth.
The Oxford Crown court found Justice Mugambe guilty of several cases revolving around modern day slavery. Some of the charges included that of conspiring to facilitate the commission of a breach of UK immigration law, as well as facilitating travel with a view to exploitation, forcing someone to work, and conspiracy to intimidate a witness
“The whole process was hurried as if the jury was up to something evil. If due process was followed, the court would have sent a delegation to Uganda to gather evidence against Justice Mugambe,” said an appellant, adding: “To get sense of the whole thing, they would have looked at the cultural set up in Uganda where people adopt house helps and take them as their own or solicit help from a family member to offer their labour in a family home of a relative,” said Moses Odongo, a Kampala-based advocate of law.
Several concerned Ugandans in the UK also carried placards as a sign of discontent, arguing that the case against Justice Mugambe was an asylum scam and not necessarily that of domestic slavery.
“Wake up Britain. African Judge fairness, not rush to judgement,” read some of the plackards. They urgued that the defendant’s condemnation without a full cultural context tantamount to injustice.
Others called Justice Mugambe a descent community head and not a criminal.
The case of modern day slavery in the UK attracts the maximum punishment of life imprisonment, also the judge said she was lenient on her since she was a first time offender.
As a hint of what may lie ahead, the Uganda Government recently signed bilateral statutory instruments with the United Kingdom, Turkey, China and South Korea to transfer convicted prisoners between the countries.
Nobert Mao, Uganda’s Justice Minister fomalised the agreements by appending signatures on behalf of the Republic of Uganda.
