Justice Lydia Mugambe, who faces slavery charges in the UK yesterday denied trafficking a young woman from Uganda to work as her slave.
According to British media reports, Mugambe, 49, appeared at Oxford Crown Court where she was accused of taking advantage of the alleged victim in the “most egregious way.”
Charges relate to Mugambe’s time studying for a PhD in law at the University of Oxford and Mugambe was asked if she arranged the woman’s travel intending to exploit her.
Prosecutors say Mugambe conspired with Deputy High Commissioner John Leonard Mugerwa to bring the individual to the UK to look after her children “for free”.
Court heard that the maid was found in one of the bedrooms at Mugambe’s Oxfordshire home when officers visited on February 10, 2023.
Mugambe became emotional and took tissues to wipe her face saying ‘I’m sorry but it’s too much’, “you can’t just take lies’ and “we worked for our careers.”
Mugambe, who was a fast rising a High Court judge in Uganda, is alleged to have flown in a maid and forced her to work under “slavery conditions.”
Bodyworn camera footage that was played in court last month showed Mugambe telling police the maid did not want to go back to Uganda.
“Who wants to go back to Africa when she can work in the UK?’.
Prosectors say Mugambe conspired with Mugerwa to bring the individual to the UK to look after her children for free without pay, charges Mugambe denies.
Mugambe’s lawyer Paul Raudnitz, asked her if she arranged the maid’s travel intending to exploit her in the UK.
The judge said: “I never exploited [the woman] in Uganda, why would I exploit her in the UK?”
Mugambe then became emotional and carried on speaking through tears.
Raudnitz further probed her on whether the maid ever worked under a threat of penalty or consequence, and Mugambe replied ‘no’.
He asked: “Did you ever agree with anybody else to intimidate [the woman] to stop her giving evidence in these proceedings?”
Mugambe said: ‘No, I would never do that.’
She said the maid arrived in the country in July 2022 on a work visa and did not want to stay at her house.
She also said the woman did not owe her money, was not packing to leave, that she had a key to the property and was free to go.
However court was told that the maid wanted to work for more money, a request that was turned down by Mugambe.
In the secret footage, Mugambe is seen saying: “I think it’s one of two things. She [maid] wants to work more. This is what happens exactly when they come, they get excited about the pound and then they want to work much more than the terms they came on, so that’s what she wants.”
Caroline Haughey KC, prosecuting, asked the defendant if she lied in this case, and Mugambe replied: “I said yesterday that when the police first came to me I made some misrepresentations, and I acknowledge that.”
Mugambe is accused of engaging in ‘illegal folly’ with Ugandan deputy high commissioner, John Leonard Mugerwa, in which they allegedly conspired to ‘facilitate the commission of a breach of the immigration law’.
Collated from various web sources
