Uganda @60: Yusuf Lule, an unlikely ally and Uganda's first NRM president

On June 20, 1979 at exactly 1:35 PM, the fourth president of Uganda since Independence Yusuf Kironde Lule was removed from power through a secret ballot that saw 18 councillors of the National Consultative Committee (NCC) approve his dismissal.

Lule had become unruly under the watchful eye of the NCC and the Uganda National Liberation Front (UNLA) which had aided his claim to power but he reciprocated with distrust over the suspicion of Obote and Museveni loyal partisans and insubordination.

However, on October 21, 1980 the Ugandan Court of Appeal declared Lule's dismissal unlawful which meant he was technically still president and could claim the seat. At the time, the political situation in the country was deplorable and Lule had left for Nairobi, Kenya, so the announcement was largely ignored.

That same year, Uganda held elections and Obote emerged victorious, albeit on the backdrop of accusations of rigging. This was the wake-up call that Lule had apparently been waiting for, and in the following months, he founded the Uganda Freedom Fighters (UFF) rebel group.

Like the Acholi saying "mountains and valleys don't meet, but rivers and people do," Lule found himself between the devil and the deep blue sea, he was gripped by fear for Obote and Museveni's resistance movement faction, both of whom he had previously felt threatened by.

On June 8 1981, Lule decided to merge with Museveni's camp and the National Resistance Movement (NRM) was born. He became the chairman and Museveni the vice-chairman, but the chairman of the National Resistance Army, the armed wing of the movement.

As his partnership thrived, Lule became a lead critic of Obote, even writing a book "Human Rights Violations in Uganda under Obote" which was a hit with non-government organisations.

During the course of the five years before NRM's victory, Lule suffered a debilitating kidney disorder that eventually took his life a year before the new Uganda under NRM.