Tooro’s new King is Edward Kijanangoma, Musuuga declares as royal family steers clear of succession

The ruling Babiito clan royal council elected Edward Kijanangoma Rukidi Nyabongo I as the new King of Tooro, clan chief [Omujwera Musuuga] Charles Kayondo Kamurasi maintained on Saturday during the funeral service of the late King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV.

Musuuga, the head of the Babiito royal clan from which the Tooro kings trace their lineage, made the announcement before mourners gathered to pay their final respects to Oyo, whose death had plunged the kingdom into a succession crisis.

“I wish to inform Tooro and Uganda at large that Tooro has a new king. The council of the Babiito sat and elected Edward Rukidi Nyabwongo I,” Musuuga decreed at St John’s Cathedral, near the Karuzika Palace in Fort Portal City.

“Whatever we’ve done is in accordance with Ugandan law, and we have put our Tooro culture and norms into consideration. Let’s all maintain unity and always remember our culture. God is there,” he remarked, as some mixed reactions could be heard from a congregation that included hundreds of high-profile mourners and royalty.

The declaration comes days after Oyo’s immediate family rejected the announcement of the UBC journalist as the new King and insisted that his hitherto unknown son should succeed him, in accordance with what the family said was the late King’s will.

‘No one can mess with Tooro culture’

The succession dispute had threatened to delay Oyo’s burial because the new king is required to perform a key cultural ritual during the final interment at the Karambi Royal Mausoleum. 

The dispute also comes against the history of Oyo’s own accession to the throne, which followed a protracted succession battle that eventually ended in court.

Musuuga, however, urged the people of Tooro to remain united and protect the kingdom’s cultural identity as the succession dispute unfolds.

“I tell the people of Tooro that thank you for loving your kingdom. Thank you for remaining calm in this time of grief. Amaata gatikire, enkuuba etutiire (milk has poured, lightning has struck),” he said.

“Let’s stay as one, eat one and say one thing because God is with us. Let us guard the dignity of our culture. No one can mess with the culture of Tooro and Kitara,” he added. 

As he ended his remarks, Musuuga, in tears, also delivered an emotional farewell to Oyo, recalling his relationship with the late King’s father, Patrick David Matthew Kaboyo Olimi III.

“May God who created King Oyo forgive him for his mistakes during his earthly journey. When I see your body here, I remember your father who told me that he wished that I be a great man and guide his children including King Oyo. I believe I’ve served that duty to the kingdom subjects,” he said.

Musuuga became more emotional as he addressed the mourners before asking the late King to rest with his father.
“Pardon me for being emotional before you, but that’s life. Rest well with your father and long live Tooro Kingdom,” he said.

Earlier, the man, who has increasingly become known in the aftermath of the death, also thanked Queen Mother Best Kemigisa for caring for Oyo throughout his illness.

Musuuga praised her for “enduring the pain of treating King Oyo and giving the kingdom a good king.”

“We thank you for loving and being by his bedside during sickness. We mourn with you and are hopeful that as you’re a Christian, you’ll stand by your two legs and put God at your front always,” he said.

Family keeps off succession dispute
While Musuuga formally announced the new king, Oyo’s mother, Best Kemigisa, and his only surviving child, Princess Ruth Komuntale, steered clear of the succession question in their remarks at today’s funeral service.

Their silence comes despite the immediate royal family having rejected the new king announcement earlier this week and maintained that Oyo’s son, whose existence is not publicly known, should succeed his father as provided for in the late King’s will.

Instead of addressing the competing claims to the throne, both women used their remarks to call for peace and unity in Tooro.

Komuntale avoided the succession question, instead telling mourners that she “remembered her brother as a person beyond the crown.”

Museveni calls for peaceful solution
Representing President Museveni at the funeral, Parliament Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa urged the Batooro [tribal group] to resolve the succession dispute peacefully and within the law.

“When the issue of the new king of the Batooro is solved, we shall be happy to work with the king as we did with His Highness Oyo,” Tayebwa read from Museveni’s remarks, adding: “I appeal to the Batooro to use peaceful and legal means to solve this matter and also look for maximum unity instead of division.”

The veteran Ugandan leader, who was among King Oyo’s principal regents, said traditional institutions were important in preserving aspects of culture that risk being forgotten in a modern state.

“The cultural leaders restored in 1993 are not for politics, administration or legislation. He or she is for culture, which includes language and customs,” Museveni said.

A succession dispute has unfolded during the official nine-day mourning period for Oyo and overshadowed his final rites.

A source familiar with the crisis talks told Reuters news agency on Friday that “national authorities had successfully pushed through the succession of Kijanangoma,” amid efforts to resolve the dispute before Oyo’s burial.

The developments leave the kingdom facing a delicate transition, with competing claims over who should inherit the throne and calls from the royal family, government and cultural leaders for the dispute to be resolved without undermining King Oyo’s legacy of unity.