Mugambe’s conviction is a mirror we must face

COMMENT | Gertrude Kamya Othieno | Dear Ugandan Policymakers, CEOs, Managers, and all those wielding power,

Judge Lydia Mugambe’s conviction in the UK should be more than a headline. It should be a wake-up call. She, a judge of international standing, connived with Uganda’s former deputy high commissioner in London to traffic a young Ugandan woman under false pretences, stripping her of her freedom and dignity. She confiscated her passport, forced her into unpaid servitude, and wielded her position like a weapon. She thought she was untouchable until the British justice system held her to account.

But let’s not pretend that Mugambe’s crime is an anomaly. If Ugandan law worked with the same rigour, how many of you, powerful and privileged, would be facing the same fate?

For years, Uganda’s so-called ‘middle class’ has thrived on the exploitation of the weak, masking their cruelty behind polished accents and respectable job titles. How many house helps go months without pay? How many civil servants are denied salaries while their superiors steal public funds with impunity? How different is that from what Mugambe did? She enslaved one woman. You enslave hundreds through unpaid wages, unfulfilled contracts, and the silent cruelty of neglect.

And what of those exported into slavery under the guise of ‘foreign employment’? Every year, thousands of young Ugandan women are lured to the Middle East with promises of prosperity, only to be beaten, overworked, and sometimes returned home in body bags. The agencies facilitating this trade thrive, fully licensed by government institutions that turn a blind eye. How many of you in government, in recruitment agencies, in foreign affairs have signed off on these ‘opportunities’ knowing well that they are death sentences? If Mugambe’s actions warranted a prison sentence, then so do yours.

Then there is the daily bloodshed on our roads, where boda boda accidents claim thousands of lives due to weak regulation and corruption. Who enforces road safety laws? Who ensures hospitals are equipped to save accident victims? The answer is simple: no one with power cares, until they themselves are affected. When it is a minister or a CEO in need, they board the next flight to Nairobi, India, or Europe, leaving ordinary Ugandans to die in underfunded hospitals.

And let’s not forget the government workers who labour tirelessly, only to wait months, even years, for their pay while those at the top live lavishly. Civil servants, health workers, and teachers struggle to survive while their bosses are protected by political patronage and amass wealth. A judge in the UK was convicted for denying wages to one person. How then do we describe an entire system that does the same to thousands?

Perhaps the most chilling reminder of the consequences of exploitation came in 2021, when a government minister was allegedly shot dead by his own driver, reportedly a man he had mistreated for years. Power does not insulate you forever. The Mugambe case proves that. The minister’s death proves that. You may believe you are safe because Uganda’s justice system is weak, but you are merely convicts of conscience, living on borrowed time.

So, I ask you: when will you change? When will you stop seeing human lives as disposable? Will you wait until your name is in the headlines, or will you act before Justice finds you? The time for reflection is now. Because one day, justice will not come from the courts, but from the very people you have wronged. And when that day comes, no wealth or status will save you.

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Gertrude Kamya Othieno | Political Sociologist in Social Development (Alumna – London School of Economics/Political Science) | Email – gkothieno@gmail.com