KAMPALA, Uganda| Ugandan High Court and United Nations criminal tribunal judge, Justice Lydia Mugambe, has been handed a six-year and four-month jail term by the Oxford Crown Court in the United Kingdom.

Oxford Crown Court found her guilty of illegally transporting a young girl to the UK to be her unpaid housemaid.

Mugabe was convicted of four offences: conspiracy to do an act to facilitate the breach of UK immigration law by a non-UK national, which is contrary to s.1 of the Criminal Law Act 1997.

Arranging or facilitating the travel of the complainant with a view to exploitation contrary to S.2 of the Criminal Law Act 2015.

Requiring the complainant to perform forced or compulsory labour, contrary to S.1(b) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, and conspiracy to intimidate a witness, contrary to S.1(1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977.

” The victim in this case is entitled to lifelong anonymity under Section 1 of the Sexual Offences Act, 1992. That prevents publication of the victim’s name or material which might identify the victim in any way, across all platforms and all mediums. Court held

According to court records, Mugabe met the victim when she was 19 years old and experiencing considerable hardship, and she provided her with employment and accommodation as a nanny and maid in Uganda as well as supporting her education.

Court documents further revealed that Mugabe decided to bring her to the UK to act as her children’s maid while Mugabe was completing her course , as she (Mugabe) explained to a friend in a message on 14th July 2022 shortly after the victim’s arrival, “I don’t have to teach her. She knows us well.”

The court also ruled that Mugambe conspired with Ugandan deputy high commissioner John Leonard Mugerwa to bring the young woman to the UK.

” And also engaged in dishonest conspiracy with Mugerwa to obtain a UK visa on a false basis but also brought the victim intending to force her to work for you; under the threat of penalty, if the victim did not do what you wanted, you would not intend to pay the victim for her work for you in the UK.” Court ruled

The court ruled that ” you will serve up to one half of six years and four months in custody; you will serve the remainder on licence. As against the part of the sentence you are required to serve in custody, you will receive full credit for the period of time you have spent in custody on remand.”

However, on the 3rd of April 2025, the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Nobert Mao, signed a statutory instrument, the Transfer of Convicted Offenders (Application of Act in the United Kingdom), which would see Mugabe serve her prison sentence in Uganda.

In exercise of the powers conferred on the minister responsible for justice by the Transfer of Convicted Offenders Act, this instrument is made this 3rd day of April, 2025. This Instrument may be cited as the Transfer of Convicted Offenders Application of Act to the United Kingdom Instrument, 2025. The statutory instrument read