Musaazi NAMITI
Posts published on X have revived interest in the slavery case of Justice Lydia Mugambe, with one claiming she could be freed early.
The posts were shared by a user in the UK named Jamie Hooper, who uses a profile image of a woman and has 200-plus followers.
“She was sentenced to six years last year. Labour now proposes to release her early. The rest of us are left to infer that slavery has become a minor entry in their moral ledger,” wrote Jamie Hooper.
It is unclear whether “Labour” refers to the governing party in the UK.
She was sentenced to six years last year. Labour now proposes to release her early. The rest of us are left to infer that slavery has become a minor entry in their moral ledger.
— Jamie Hooper (@jp__hooper) August 31, 2026
In the second post, accompanied by an old video recorded by the police, Jamie Hooper wrote: “Judge Lydia Mugambe worked for the United Nations on slavery and human trafficking. The police found she was keeping a young woman as a slave in her house in Oxfordshire.”
The poster went on: “When they arrested her in her kitchen, she told them she was a judge in her own country. She had immunity. A diplomatic passport. She had come here as a student. She did not need anyone to work for her.
“It does not need embroidery. A judge who is supposed to judge slave-owners, keeping a slave. The anti-slavery expert who requires a slave. The woman who claims diplomatic immunity in a rented kitchen in Kidlington.”
Judge Lydia Mugambe worked for the United Nations on slavery and human trafficking. The police found she was keeping a young woman as a slave in her house in Oxfordshire.
— Jamie Hooper (@jp__hooper) August 30, 2026
When they arrested her in her kitchen, she told them she was a judge in her own country. She had immunity. A… pic.twitter.com/FFGdp6ViYH
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Judiciary spokesperson Ereemye James Mwanda told OJ-UGANDA via WhatsApp that they had no comment. “I refer you to [the] Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” he said.
Foreign Affairs Minister Adonia Ayebare was contacted for comment but had not responded by the time of publication.
The social media posts have sent a burst of traffic to an old OJ-UGANDA story titled “Why jailed judge Lydia Mugambe will be in prison for only 3 years”.
Oxford Crown Court jailed Justice Mugambe in May 2025 for six years and four months for forcing a Ugandan woman to work as a domestic slave. She was studying for a doctorate in law at the University of Oxford and had worked as a High Court judge in Uganda and for the UN at the Tanzania-based tribunal handling residual cases from the Rwanda and Yugoslavia war crimes courts.
The UN removed Justice Mugambe’s profile from its website after she was sentenced but had kept it even as she was convicted of slavery.
The court heard that Justice Mugambe needed a maid to look after her children as she pursued her doctorate, but she could not sponsor a visa for her maid.
She approached a Ugandan diplomat, John Mugerwa, who sponsored a young woman’s entry into the UK as a domestic worker, according to the Thames Valley Police in Kidlington, Oxford, where she lived.
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