The Ugandan High Court Judge, Justice Lydia Mugambe has been handed a six-year and four months jail term by the Oxford Crown Court in the United Kingdom.
Justice Mugambe who doubles as a United Nations criminal tribunal Judge was convicted of modern slavery by the same court in March 2025.
The court found her guilty of illegally transporting a young girl to the UK to be her unpaid housemaid.
She is in the UK to pursue her PhD at Oxford University.
The Court ruled that Justice Mugambe used her judicial status to facilitate the travel of a young Ugandan girl to Oxford to be her unpaid housemaid.
Jurors agreed that Mugambe conspired with Ugandan deputy high commissioner John Leonard Mugerwa to bring the young woman to the UK before her sentencing on Friday, according to SkyNews.
The 49-year-old had fabricated an employment contract for the girl’s work visa, falsely stating that she would be a domestic worker for John Leonard Mugerwa, who was then the Ugandan High Commissioner.
She later informed the girl that she would be employed as her housemaid with a salary and could also seek other job opportunities.
Payments
However, the girl never received payment for her childcare duties for the defendant and struggled to maintain stable employment because Mugambe withheld her identification documents.
The jury convicted Justice Mugambe on multiple charges, including conspiracy to facilitate a breach of UK immigration law by a non-UK national, arranging or facilitating travel for exploitation, forcing a person into compulsory labor, and conspiring to intimidate a witness.
There have been media reports that Kampala and London are in talks for prisoner exchange which could see Justice Mugambe freed and deported.