The Government has extended the application of the Transfer of Convicted Offenders Act to the United Kingdom, the Daily Star has learned.
The Act enables the mutual transfer of convicted offenders between Uganda and other Commonwealth countries, allowing them to serve their prison sentences in their respective home countries.
Signed on April 4, 2025, and gazetted on April 15, 2025, by Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Nobert Mao, the extension is partly aimed at facilitating the return of convicted High Court judge Lydia Mugambe to Uganda.
The decision comes less than a month after the Oxford Crown Court convicted Mugambe, who also served as a United Nations judge, of exploiting a young woman as a domestic slave.
Prosecutors argued that Mugambe abused her position of power by preventing the victim from securing stable employment and forcing her to work as a maid and provide free childcare.
She was found guilty on multiple charges, including conspiracy to facilitate a breach of UK immigration law, facilitating travel with intent to exploit, forced labor, and witness intimidation.
During the trial, prosecuting attorney Caroline Haughey KC told the jury:“Lydia Mugambe exploited and abused [the victim], deceiving her about the purpose of her coming to the UK and taking advantage of her lack of knowledge regarding her employment rights.”
Jurors accepted the prosecution’s argument that Mugambe, while pursuing a PhD in law at the University of Oxford, conspired with Ugandan Deputy High Commissioner John Leonard Mugerwa to bring the woman to the UK under false pretenses.
Prosecutors described the arrangement as a “very dishonest” trade-off: Mugerwa allegedly helped secure sponsorship for the victim’s UK entry through the Ugandan High Commission in exchange for Mugambe’s efforts to influence a judge presiding over one of Mugerwa’s legal cases.
The court heard that Mugambe sought “to obtain someone to make her life easier at the lowest possible cost.” She denied all allegations, claiming she had always treated the victim with “love, care, and patience.”
The victim, whose identity is protected, testified that she felt “lonely” and “stuck” due to restrictions on her work hours.
Notably, Mugambe was appointed to the UN’s judicial roster in May 2023—just three months after police were first called to her Oxfordshire residence.
