The Shocking Double Life of Lydia Mugambe

A 49-year-old Ugandan judge who served on a United Nations tribunal has been convicted of trafficking a young woman to the UK and forcing her to work as an unpaid slave. Lydia Mugambe was found guilty of multiple serious offenses including facilitating illegal immigration, forced labor, and witness intimidation.

The judge “exploited and abused” her victim, forcing her to work as an unpaid maid and caregiver while preventing her from seeking other employment.

The conviction came after a jury trial that revealed a disturbing conspiracy between Mugambe and Ugandan diplomat John Leonard Mugerwa, who helped arrange for the Ugandan embassy to sponsor the victim’s UK entry under false pretenses.

Shockingly, Mugambe was appointed to the UN International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals in May 2023, despite police having been called to her Oxfordshire home just three months earlier. At the time of the offenses, she was studying for a law PhD at Oxford University while also serving as a judge on Uganda’s High Court.