Royal family rift after popular TV news presenter chosen to succeed Ugandan king
King Oyo's family say he left a will naming his young son as heir to the Tooro kingdom.
**Royal family split after popular TV news presenter picked to replace Ugandan king**
UBC TV news presenter Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma has been chosen as the new Tooro monarch
A fierce succession row has broken out in one of Uganda’s traditional kingdoms, just days before the burial of its late king, who was the world’s youngest reigning monarch until his death.
King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, who ruled the Tooro Kingdom for more than 30 years, was receiving cancer treatment in the US when he died last month at the age of 34.
Royal clan elders have appointed popular TV news presenter Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma, 56, as the next monarch, but Oyo’s immediate family has rejected the decision.
His sister, Princess Ruth Komuntale, said the late king had left a will written in 2022 naming his young son, whose identity has never been made public, as his successor.
Queen Best Kemigisa has urged that the family be allowed to bury her son in peace.
“My brother did leave behind an heir to the throne, and that was very clearly stated,” she said, accusing those behind the announcement on Wednesday night of causing “confusion and turmoil” while the family was still mourning.
Meanwhile, the late king’s mother, Queen Best Kemigisa, said royal guards had been removed from the palace and soldiers deployed, limiting the royal family’s movement and their ability to receive visitors, which she described as “house arrest”.
She appealed to the army leadership and President Yoweri Museveni to let the family mourn and bury Oyo in peace on Saturday.
“I appeal to those fighting over the throne: please, there will be time for all of that,” she said. “Let us grieve and bury my son King Oyo.”
Thousands of mourners are expected at the burial at the royal tombs near the palace in Fort Portal in western Uganda.
His body was flown back to Uganda from the US on Friday, and funeral preparations are under way.
Tooro is one of Uganda’s traditional kingdoms. Its monarch has no formal political power but remains a significant cultural figure in western Uganda.
Uganda abolished its traditional kingdoms in 1967, but they were restored in the 1990s under President Museveni. Their monarchs are recognised as cultural leaders rather than political rulers.
Princess Ruth Komuntale, the late King Oyo’s sister, has led the royal family’s rejection of the newly named Tooro monarch
The existence of Oyo’s son was first publicly disclosed in the days after the king’s death by President Museveni, who said he had been told about the boy by the queen mother.
No other details have been officially released, and he had not previously been presented as Oyo’s heir.
The dispute has highlighted the complex way succession works in Tooro.
Unlike Britain’s monarchy, where the crown passes through an established line of succession, Tooro’s monarch is selected from the Babiito, the royal dynastic clan.
At a press conference in the kingdom’s capital, Fort Portal, the royal clan’s succession committee announced Kijanangoma, Oyo’s cousin and a presenter at the state-run broadcaster UBC, as monarch.
The clan elders said they had the customary authority to choose a suitable prince to become “the Omukama” - the local title for the king of Tooro.
The succession panel said it had carried out “due diligence, consultation and adequate consideration” before choosing Kijanangoma, with 19 members signing the resolution.
Kijanangoma is the son of Prince Christopher Paul Kijanangoma and a grandson of former Tooro king George David Rukidi III.
Another royal, UK-based Prince George Desmond Kamurasi, was first considered for the throne but declined, citing other responsibilities, according to the succession committee.
It is still unclear when the enthronement will happen, but the committee said it would be carried out in line with Tooro traditions and customs.
King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV was praised as a modernising monarch who championed education
Oyo’s family quickly held a press conference to reject the announcement, insisting that the late king’s written wishes must be honoured.
Princess Komuntale said Oyo had left “very strict instructions” on his succession, naming his son as first in line and also setting out alternatives if the boy could not take the throne - a view supported by her aunt, senior royal Princess Elizabeth Bagaaya.
But clan representatives said reports that Oyo had a son were not enough because the child had not been formally presented to the royal clan as required by Tooro tradition.
One committee member told Uganda’s NTV station that a royal child must be formally introduced to elders and then undergo ceremonies and other preparations before being considered for future leadership.