Godfrey Serunkuma Lule

Godfrey Serunkuma Lule (born 10 September 1932) is a Ugandan lawyer. He was Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs of Uganda for Idi Amin and defected, becoming a prominent international critic of Amin. He went on to found the prominent Ugandan Law and Consulting firm Sebalu & Lule Advocates and Legal Consultants.

Early life Lule was born on 10 September 1932, in Mukono, Uganda.

Education From 1952 to 1954, Lule attended Aggrey Memorial School. He worked briefly as a teacher following graduation, teaching at the Luwule Secondary School in Luwule Village in the Namaiba Parish in the Nakisunga Subcounty in the Mukono District of Uganda.

Early career After graduating from the University of Bombay, Lule served as an apprentice to the Attorney General of India at the office in Mysore, India. He also had to deal with the legal consequences the Expulsion of Asians from Uganda where Idi Amin ordered the deportation of 80,000 Ugandans of Indian Descent from Uganda, adjudicating on what happened to their property left behind when Uganda's South Asian Minority was deported and Ugandan citizens of Indian ancestry voluntarily left due to increased Indophobia in Uganda. He also frequently travelled to Geneva, Switzerland and other cities to defend the Idi Amin regime to international bodies and foreign governments.

Defection In March 1977, Lule was told over a lunch in Kampala that Idi Amin was planning on ousting and ultimately killing Lule, prompting Lule to leave the cafe where he was leaving and head directly to London, home of a vibrant expatriate Ugandan community of other prominent defectors from Idi Amin like former long-time Idi Amin Minister of Finance Emmanuel Blayo Wakhwweya two years earlier, without even returning to his house in Kampala. and no mention was made in Uganda that he was missing and that he defected to the United Kingdom until July. During this time he was attempting to get his family to join him in London, avoiding the fate that other political spouses like Edith Mary Bataringaya faced when their spouses fell into the ill-will of Idi Amin, with Edith Mary Bataringaya being burned alive by Idi Amin henchmen.

In exile, Lule became a prominent critic of the Idi Amin regime. In September 1977, he spoke to the United Nations and urged them to censure Amin's crimes against humanity. He also appealed for the United Kingdom, the United States, and European nations to boycott Idi Amin and his regime, calling a press conference with ex-Minister of Health Henry Kyemba where he urged the United Kingdom to stop allowing Idi Amin's "whiskey runs" where he would send cronies on flights to London's Stansted Airport to buy luxury goods for himself and supporters. He also worked for Hoskin and Company while in exile, working in Bournemouth and London. The firm's advocates are members of various professional bodies, including the International Bar Association, the Commonwealth Lawyers Association, the East African Law Society and the Uganda Law Society.

Sebalu & Lule specialises in the following practice areas: banking and finance, capital markets, corporate and commercial law, commercial dispute resolution, projects and infrastructure, power (energy, oil and gas and mining), mergers and acquisitions, employment and pensions, non-profit organisations, real estate and tax. Sebalu & Lule was also ranked as a Band 1 Ugandan law firm in the 2014 edition of Chambers & Partners.

Bugandan Political Career post-Amin After returning to Uganda following his defection, Godfrey Serunkuma Lule initially kept a low profile politically focusing on working building up Sebalu & Lule into a successful and prominent firm. He did do pro-bono work consulting for the new Ugandan political leadership, especially working for the Indians of Uganda returning to Uganda following the Expulsion of Asians from Uganda under Idi Amin, a decision that Lule worked to defend, litigate, and sort out when he was Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs of Uganda. In 1993, he helped in negotiations to ensure that Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II would be crowned, serving as his deputy attorney general. After Muliika was sacked Lule resigned, citing his ailing heart. As of 2019, Lule continues to live in Kampala and practice law and run Sebalu & Lule.