Yusuf Lule

Over the last six years of his life Lule received treatment for a kidney disorder at Hammersmith Hospital in London. He died there on 21 January 1985 of kidney failure following surgery. He was buried in London. The NRM released a statement upon his death, stating that it "wishes to assure its members, supporters, sympathizers and all Ugandans that the struggle for which Professor Lule stood will continue." The NRM ultimately won the Ugandan Bush War, capturing Kampala in January 1986. Following Museveni's seizure of power, his government requested that Lule's body be repatriated. The remains were disinterred and flown to Entebbe on 22 January 1986. Greeted at the airport by large crowds, Lule's body was taken to Kampala where it lay in state for two days before being reburied in Kampala where Uganda's first national flag had been raised on its independence day.

Out of office, Lule was flown to Tanzania, where he was detained under armed guard before being allowed to fly to London. He later went to Nairobi, Kenya. In 1980 Uganda hosted general elections to elect a new government. In anticipation of the contest, many Baganda began to support the DP as a way of opposing Obote and the UPC. Lule planned to attend the DP's conference in June where the party would select its new leaders. The incumbent leadership feared that his Baganda support would propel him to the helm of their organisation and displace them, and thus they blocked his return to Uganda. Despite concerns of fraud and irregularities, the UPC was declared the ultimate winner of the elections and Obote became the President of Uganda. Fearful of Obote's grip on power, Lule founded and became head of a rebel group, the Uganda Freedom Fighters (UFF). On 8 June 1981 the UFF merged with Museveni's Popular Resistance Army to form the National Resistance Movement (NRM). Lule became chairman of the NRM, while Museveni became its vice-chairman and chairman of the High Command of the National Resistance Army, the group's armed wing. The merger greatly strengthened the support of the anti-Obote rebels in Buganda. Lule became a leading critic of Obote and authored a book, Human Rights Violations in Uganda under Obote, which was heavily circulated by non-governmental organizations.

Many Baganda felt that Lule had been removed from power because he had preserved legitimate interests of Buganda. His ouster instigated large protests in Kampala and clashes between demonstrators and Tanzanian troops attempting to maintain order. Baganda protesters blocked streets and destroyed trucks while transportation workers went on strike and merchants deliberately gouged prices of basic commodities. Some armed Baganda groups formed after Lule's departure and attacked police and soldiers, rendering Buganda ungovernable. On 21 October 1980 the Ugandan Court of Appeal ruled that Lule's removal had been unlawful, stating that Lule had the authority to appoint ministers without the NCC's approval. Though the ruling technically meant Lule could still claim to be President of Uganda, most nationals chose to ignore the decision, since the political situation in the country had rapidly developed since Lule's removal.

The Moshi Conference opened on 24 March 1979 in the Tanzanian town of Moshi, following an intense debate over which factions and persons could be admitted. That afternoon the delegates announced the formation of the Uganda National Liberation Front (UNLF), which was to be governed by a 30-strong National Consultative Committee (NCC) and an 11-strong National Executive Committee, the latter including three special commissions—Finance and Administration, Political and Diplomatic Affairs, and Military Affairs. The next two days were spent debating the balance of power among the governing bodies and the selection of a chairman for the organisation, which was hotly contested between Lule and Paulo Muwanga, an Obote supporter. After heated argument a consensus was reached whereby Lule would be given the chair and Muwanga would be made head of the Military Affairs Commission.

Caught unprepared by the fall of Kampala, Lule hurriedly compiled a list of ministers meant to represent the ethnic balances of Uganda's population. On 12 April 1979 Lule and his cabinet boarded a flight from Dar es Salaam to Entebbe to fly in for his inauguration. While the plane was stopped in Mwanza, Tanzanian officials decided to delay it there until they could ensure better security for a ceremony in Kampala. The next day Lule and his ministers reached Entebbe and were brought into Kampala in a TPDF motorcade in the late afternoon. Lule was then sworn in as President of Uganda in front of the Parliament building and gave a brief speech pledging to bring a return of law and order. Lule concluded by saying in Luganda, "Now it is our turn." Still feeling that Kampala was unsafe, Tanzanian officials quickly took Lule from Parliament and installed him in the Entebbe State House.

Lule served as the first black principal of Makerere University College from 1964 to 1970, and was assistant secretary-general of the Association of African Universities, in Accra, Ghana, between 1973 and 1978. Lule served as a minister in the pre-independence British colonial government and later as an assistant secretary-general of the Commonwealth Secretariat. He went into exile after Idi Amin came to power.

In 1959 the Democratic Party (DP) nominated Lule as a candidate to become Kattikiro (Prime Minister) of the subnational kingdom of Buganda. Many aristocratic figures in the kingdom distrusted Lule because of his Muslim origins, and Michael Kintu ultimately won the election. Upon Uganda's independence in 1962, he became chairman of the Public Service Commission.

In 1947 Lule married Hannah Namuli Wamala at Kings College Budo's church, where he was a teacher and she was head girl.

Yusuf Kironde Lule (10 April 1912 – 21 January 1985) was a Ugandan professor and civil servant who served as the fourth president of Uganda between 13 April and 20 June 1979.

Yusuf Lule was born on 10 April 1912 in Kampala. He was educated at King's College Budo (1929–34), Makerere University College, Kampala (1934–36), Fort Hare University at Alice, South Africa (1936–39) and the University of Edinburgh. He was initially a Muslim but later converted to Christianity while at King's College Budo.