Ugandan High Court Judge Lydia Mugambe has been found guilty of modern slavery by the Oxford Crown Court for illegally bringing a housemaid to the UK and subsequently refusing to compensate her for her labor. She is scheduled for sentencing on May 2 and faces a potential life imprisonment.
Mugambe, who was pursuing doctoral studies in law at Oxford University and was previously regarded as a prominent figure in the Ugandan judiciary, used her official position to facilitate the victim’s travel to the UK.
She falsely identified Uganda’s High Commissioner, John Leonard Mugerwa, as the young woman’s work contact, in exchange for promising him assistance in an unrelated Ugandan court case. This action violated UK immigration laws.
The prosecution stated that the Ugandan government declined to waive Mugerwa’s diplomatic immunity, preventing his prosecution in the UK; therefore, he faced no charges. The jury reached its guilty verdict after two days of deliberation, as reported by OxfordMail.
The 49-year-old judge attempted to invoke diplomatic immunity, claiming status as both a Ugandan and a United Nations judge. However, the Office of the United Nations Secretary-General waived her immunity, enabling her prosecution under the UK’s Modern Slavery Act.
Mugambe persuaded the victim that she would be employed as a paid domestic worker in the UK and would have the opportunity to seek other employment. Upon arrival, however, the woman received no payment for her childcare services, and Mugambe confiscated her identification documents, leaving her isolated and vulnerable.
Commander for Oxfordshire, Chief Superintendent Ben Clark, stated: “Lydia Mugambe is an extremely qualified lawyer, a Ugandan High court judge and a UN Criminal Tribunal judge.
As such, there is no doubt that she knew she was committing offences by bringing the victim to the UK under the pretence that she was going to work for the then Deputy High Commissioner at the Ugandan Embassy in London, thus providing her a legal route of entry, but knowing all along that she intended to make the victim work in servitude.”
