Ugandan rights activist wins $10 mn in Arches accident

A Ugandan human rights activist killed in an accident at Arches National Park in the United States will be liable for more than $10 million in damages, a federal judge ruled Monday.

While the amount was considerably less than pursued, attorneys for the family of Esther Nakajjigo celebrated the judgment, saying it was the largest federal wrongful death verdict in Utah history.

By his verdict, Judge Bruce Jenkins showed the world how the American justice system works to hold its own government accountable, and greatly values all lives, including Esther Nakajjigo, a remarkable young woman from Uganda, Randi McGinn, the family's attorney said in a statement.

Nakajjigo and her husband Ludovic Michaud were vacationing in eastern Utah, visiting the region's national parks months after their wedding. Recreation areas had recently been opened after pandemic-era closures and a metal gate, normally secured with a lock, was left untethered on the edge of Arches.

As the couple was leaving the park, gusts of wind swung the gate around rapidly, enough to slice through the passenger side door of the couple's car, decapitating Nakajjigo as her husband sat feet away in the driver's seat.

The gruesome nature of Nakajjigo's death and the fact that she was a renowned Ugandan women's rights activist attracted widespread attention to the case.

Nakajjigo, who was 25 years old, lived with her husband in Denver, where she moved to attend a leadership course on a full scholarship. She rose from poverty to host of a solutions-oriented reality television series in Uganda that focused on empowering women on issues such as education and healthcare, and had successfully raised funds to build health care facilities in her hometown.

The civil suit focused on the amount of damages merited because neither the U.S. nor Nakajjigo s family disputed the facts of the case. Attorneys for Michaud and Nakajjigo's parents asked for $140 million in damages, while the government said an appropriate award would be roughly $3.5 million.

During the trial, attorneys debated estimates of Nakajjigo's earnings potential. McGinn, representing Nakajjigo's family, likened her to a nonprofit CEO for an American charity, and said she would have likely made millions throughout her life. Attorneys representing the U.S. praised her work, but noted that her most recent job was at a restaurant making $15 per hour.

Jenkins said the government had provided a more reasonable projection of Nakajjigo's earnings potential.