38 Facts About Yusuf Lule

Yusuf Kironde Lule was a Ugandan professor and politician who served as the fourth president of Uganda between 13 April and 20 June 1979.

Yusuf Lule was educated at King's College Budo, Makerere University College, Kampala, Fort Hare University at Alice, South Africa and the University of Edinburgh.

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

Yusuf 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.

Yusuf Lule served as a minister in the pre-independence British colonial government and later as an assistant secretary-general of the Commonwealth Secretariat.

Yusuf Lule went into exile after Idi Amin came to power.

Yusuf Lule did not want to give the impression that Tanzania was going to install a government of its own choice in Uganda by facilitating Obote's assumption of leadership of the rebel movement, and there was hostility to Obote from the Baganda people in southern Uganda as well as other countries such as Kenya.

In place of Obote, many Ugandan exiles began favouring Yusuf Lule, who was a Muganda and had the reputation of being a political moderate as well as a civil servant who was not tarnished by scandal or corrupt service in a past Ugandan regime.

Yusuf 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.

Yusuf Lule assumed office at a time when Uganda's national institutions were dysfunctional and the country was plagued by lawlessness and violence; he presided over a failed state.

Yusuf Lule disregarded the Moshi Conference agreements stipulating a weak presidential authority and attempted to assert his ability to operate under stronger powers provided by the constitution operative in Uganda before Amin's coup.

Yusuf Lule snubbed the committee members by first missing their formal inauguration and, when the ceremony was rescheduled so he could be present, he gave a speech and departed before swearing them in, much to their displeasure.

Yusuf Lule then appointed ministers and deputy ministers to his cabinet without the NCC's approval.

Yusuf Lule declared a reorganization of Ugandan's administration, dividing the country into four regions each subject to the authority of a regional commissioner.

Yusuf Lule further infuriated the NCC when his cabinet awarded its own members $5,000 worth of foreign exchange as a "rehabilitation allowance" despite the treasury having very little money.

Yusuf Lule responded to the councilors' anger by offering them the same allowance, which they rejected.

Yusuf Lule distrusted the UNLA, which he considered to be made up of loyal Obote and Yoweri Museveni partisans.

Yusuf Lule's government withheld money to the army for this reason, and it played no role in overseeing the defeat of the remnants of Amin's forces.

Yusuf Lule planned on disbanding the UNLA and replacing it with a new "National Army", which angered the leaders of the former.

Yusuf Lule ultimately did take measures that pleased the Baganda, such as restoring administrative unity to Buganda, conferring more powers upon Buganda's government, frequently delivering public statements in Luganda, appointing prominent Baganda monarchists to high office, and granting some state contracts to Baganda businessmen.

In redistributing properties and enterprises seized from Amin's associates, Yusuf Lule's government allocated a disproportionate amount to Baganda and his close associates.

Yusuf Lule's critics denounced him as a "monarchist" and a "feudalist".

Yusuf Lule's handling of his cabinet provoked outrage in the NCC, especially when he dismissed Muwanga from office.

Yusuf Lule felt that Tanzania afforded key support to his political opponents, and thus sought to reduce its influence in the country by deprecating the standing of the TPDF, which remained after the elimination of Amin's forces to provide order.

Yusuf Lule encouraged Ugandan publications to criticise the Tanzanian army, angering some Ugandan circles and the UNLA which thought it was unfair to attack the army which had "liberated" the country.

Yusuf Lule responded by stating that he was not prepared to take a stance involving such "important constitutional matters" by agreeing to submit the appointments to the NCC.

Yusuf Lule said that his cabinet appointments were publicly known and that the committee could "treat the appointments as you wish".

Yusuf Lule's statement was followed by hours of debate by the NCC concerning the division of powers agreed upon in Moshi.

Later, Yusuf Lule rose to say that he had not contravened the agreements made in Moshi and said that he had not received key directives supposedly dispatched to him from the NCC.

Yusuf Lule declared that Lule was not willing to accept the supremacy of UNLF governance and concluded by formally tabling a motion of no confidence in the President.

Yusuf Lule held the Ugandan Presidency for just 68 days, the shortest tenure of any President of Uganda.

Many Baganda felt that Yusuf Lule had been removed from power because he had preserved legitimate interests of Buganda.

Yusuf Lule's ouster instigated large protests in Kampala and clashes between demonstrators and Tanzanian troops attempting to maintain order.

On 21 October 1980 the Ugandan Court of Appeal ruled that Yusuf Lule's removal had been unlawful, stating that Yusuf Lule had the authority to appoint ministers without the NCC's approval.

Out of office, Yusuf Lule was flown to Tanzania, where he was detained under armed guard before being allowed to fly to London.

Yusuf 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.

Yusuf 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.

Yusuf Lule died there on 21 January 1985 of kidney failure following surgery.