Ugandan man on trial in UK for modern slavery

A Ugandan man has been charged by the UK-based Thames Valley Police in connection with modern slavery, according to reports.

According to the Thames Valley Police website, Ms Lydia Mugamba is charged with three counts of conspiracy to facilitate a breach of UK immigration laws by a non-UK national.

He was also charged with arranging or facilitating the exploitative travel of another person and coercing a person into forced or compulsory labor.

The charges were confirmed by the Crown Prosecution Service and were linked to a modern slavery investigation involving one victim.

Modern slavery is when one person uses another person’s vulnerability to control another for profit.

The marathon trial of Ms Mugamba, 49, who currently resides in Lyne Road, Kidlington, England, will begin on February 10, 2025, and the trial is expected to last three weeks at Oxford Crown Court.

The Thames Valley Police website shows Ms Mugambe was charged and arrested on August 7, but the case was uploaded to the police website on Tuesday last week.

We have not been able to independently verify at press time whether the woman in question is the same High Court judge Lydia Mugamba, who is on sabbatical leave from the Ugandan Judiciary to pursue her PhD in Oxford, England.

When asked if the Judiciary knew the person facing the charges, the Judiciary Public Relations Officer, Mr. James Ereemye, said information gathering was ongoing.

“Yes, we’ve read about these in the mainstream media and we haven’t gotten the actual facts yet, and once we know we’ll be able to respond at the appropriate time,” he said in a phone interview.

Efforts to reach Judge Mugamba were unsuccessful at the time of publication.

When contacted last evening, Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo said simply: “I have seen similar posts on social media but I am taking formal steps to prove their veracity.”

However, sources within the Judiciary said the top management was unhappy that it had been kept in the dark about the woman’s accusation and imprisonment since August this year.

Family sources close to Ms Mugambe said she may have been the victim of a plot by a girl she helped get to the UK but who was destined to go elsewhere but did not work for Mugambe.

The family member also said that when the suspected girl reached the UK, her friends advised her to inform the police that she was being held against her will by the Ugandan woman.

“…When he arrived in England, this was his first stop and he relaxed there. But she wasn’t supposed to be there… so of course this person was recommended by other girls who lived in the neighborhood, yes, she was told that she could get permanent papers, more work, and more money if she reported that she was actually being held back, not against her will or anything like that, a source said he said.

Last evening, multiple sources stated that the Attorney General and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were addressing the issue.

Ms Tina Wamala, communications specialist for the British High Commission in Uganda, said: “I have seen posts on social media but I don’t know much more.”

Ms. Wamala also promised to get back to us after gathering more information on the matter.

Under UK law, a person found guilty of modern slavery can be sentenced to life imprisonment, the maximum legal penalty.