Justice Mugambe sentenced to six years in jail: what next?

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Ugandan judge, Lady Justice Lydia Mugambe Ssali, was Friday sentenced by a UK court to six years and four months in jail over four offences related to modern slavery.

She was convicted by the Oxford Crown Court on March 13 this year on the offences of trafficking a Ugandan woman to the UK under false pretences, forced labour, an immigration offence, and conspiracy to intimidate a witness.

Mugambe was given different jail times for the four offences, which she will serve concurrently, counted from when she was remanded in August 2024.

In the buildup to the sentencing, the Ugandan government, through Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka, said it would support the 49-year-old judge.

That came a few days after Ugandans living and working in the UK had mobilised colleagues to turn up in big numbers when Mugambe returned to court for sentencing.

Mugambe is a Ugandan judge of the High Court, a position she has held since 2013.

She also doubles as a judge of the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, an appointment that has been running since May 2023.

The Ugandans in the UK said Mugambe is a high-profile person that the Government of Uganda must intervene and secure her release from jail, maintaining that she was a victim of many circumstances.

They had also prayed that the presiding court gives her a fair sentence.

AG Kiwanuka had told New Vision that indeed they were supporting the judge from many perspectives, but did not disclose the details of the nature of the support.

“It is true Uganda is rendering the necessary support to Justice Mugambe. We shall do all that we can to help her,” he said ahead of the sentencing.

Kiwanuka said the nature of the support would also be determined by what she wants since her prosecution is a private matter.

Other sources indicated that various Ugandan lawyers were also keenly waiting for the outcome of the sentencing to decide on the next course of action.

The Permanent Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Vincent Waiswa Bagiire, when contacted, said the ministry was also keenly aware and following all events. He, however, said there was nothing much they could do until after Mugambe’s sentencing.

“As a country, we cannot interfere with the judicial process of another country, but we are waiting for the sentencing, and then we will determine our next course of action,” he stated.

“The sentencing will be the completion of the judicial process, then as Government we will come in to determine our next move, otherwise before that we cannot do much”.

Last week, the Ugandan Government, in a landmark diplomatic development, formalised a prisoner exchange arrangement with the UK, allowing convicted Ugandans currently serving sentences in British prisons to be transferred back home to complete their jail terms.

The move was made official through a new statutory instrument number 37 of 2025, titled “The Transfer of Convicted Offenders (Application of Act to the UK).

The statutory instrument was signed on April 3, 2025, by justice minister Norbert Mao, acting under powers conferred upon him by the Transfer of Convicted Offenders Act, Cap. 134.

Sources said the statutory instrument marks a new chapter in the enforcement of criminal justice between Uganda and the UK and opens the door for mutual consideration of prisoner transfers under agreed terms and conditions. 

Sources further explained that under diplomacy, the swap can also be in the form of a favour extended to a country that has no convicted offenders to be exchanged.

Mugambe moved to the UK to pursue a doctorate (PhD) in law at the University of Oxford. 

During her trial, the court was told that she conspired with former Ugandan deputy high commissioner, John Leonard Mugerwa, to arrange for the young lady’s entry into the UK under false pretences.

Prosecution led by Caroline Haughey KC painted Mugambe as an opportunist who used her legal knowledge to manipulate the system for her personal benefit.

He argued that Mugambe’s actions were deliberate and calculated, emphasising that she lied to authorities about the purpose of the young lady’s visit and later attempted to shield herself from scrutiny by manipulating the narrative.

However, Mugambe’s defence team insisted that she was shocked and became emotional during police questioning, insisting that she had never forced anyone into unpaid labour.

According to her legal counsel, Mugambe’s initial misstatements to the police were not lies, but rather panic-driven responses to an unexpected situation.