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.