Justice Lydia Mugambe is accused of facilitating the travel of a maid with intentions to exploit her and requiring her to perform forced or compulsory labour which breached the UK immigration law by a non UK national.
The Judiciary has remained tight-lipped on three female Judges who are embroiled in different issues in and
outside the country.
The three Judges include Supreme Court Lady Justice Esther Kisaakye who fled the country over what her
lawyers at KBW Advocates said were threats
to her life.
Her troubles began when she delivered a dissenting decision agreeing
with the applicant in the Presidential Election Petition in which then National
Unity Platform-NUP party candidate Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu was challenging
the victory of the incumbent Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
The other is High Court Judge Lydia
Mugambe who was arrested and charged in the United Kingdom in connection with
an ongoing modern slavery investigation in Oxfordshire.
She was accused of facilitating the
travel of a maid with intentions to exploit her and requiring her to perform
forced or compulsory labour which breached the UK immigration law by a non-UK
national. Her trial is expected to start on February 10th 2025 having been
formally charged on August 7 2024 following a review by the Crown
Prosecution Service.
The other is High Court Judge
Faridah Bukirwa who was ordered by the Principal Judge Dr Flavian Zeija to
vacate office on the basis that her appointment as a judge had not been
confirmed by the appointing Authority.
In an interview at the Judiciary Quarterly Press conference, regarding the fate of the Judicial Officers, Pius Bigirimana, the Permanent
Secretary to the Judiciary declined to respond to the questions.
The first question was whether
Justice Kisaakye is still an employee of the Judiciary and still drawing money
from the Judiciary despite
having fled the country. On this, Bigirimana stated that he was not the supervisor of Justice Kisaakye and indicated that the Chief Justice was the
right person to ask.
In July 2022, Dr Bigirimana wrote to Kisaakye informing
her of her absence from work without official leave for nine months and
demanded an explanation as to why he shouldn't recover nine months paid to her
without working.
But, challenged, Bigirimana said
that he wanted evidence regarding that Kisaakye is out of the country. Tasked
further if he continues to pay her since he said he hadn't received evidence
that she fled, Bigirimana declined to respond.
//Cue in: “Where is she…
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About the fate of Justice Faridah Bukirwa, Bigirimana said that he was not the supervisor
of the Judges and that it was the Principal Judge. He indicated that Bukirwa’s
contract was never renewed because there were issues to be sorted out. He
said the Judicial Service Commission-JSC wrote to that effect and he
is still waiting for communication from the JSC.
//Cue in: “I have told…
Cue out:…not now”.//
Regarding Justice Lydia Mugambe and
whether the Judiciary was taking any steps to intervene, Bigirimana insisted that this question was not for him but for the Public
Relations Officer.
According to Bigirimana, his
work is to support the judicial officers to adjudicate and when he is not
sure of something, he can't say it.
//Cue in: “It is the…
Cue out: …not me”.//
Asked if he has been advised by
their supervisors to stop paying the three lady Justices, Bigirimana said he
has not yet been advised to that effect. And further asked for
clarity if this meant he would continue to pay them, but Bigirimana's response was
neither here nor there.
Several petitions and statements
have in the recent past been written by different human rights defenders,
activists and organizations demanding Justice on behalf of the female
Judges.
