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Bitter Succession Dispute Erupts in Ugandan Kingdom After Secret Son Revelation
Developing
In Short: King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV's death has sparked a dispute over succession in the Tooro kingdom, with the royal clan backing Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma as crown prince, while a secret son is also claimed to exist.
Fort Portal, Uganda – When King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV of Tooro was buried on September 12, the ceremony unfolded under the shadow of a bitter dispute over who should succeed him.
Babiito clan elders, responsible for guarding the Tooro royal lineage and determining succession, say Oyo had not introduced the child through the customary process and instead backed Kijanangoma as his successor.
The Tooro kingdom’s prime minister, Calvin Armstrong Rwomiire Akiiki, revealed the existence of a son in a social media post on 27 August when announcing Oyo’s death, but the family has not produced a photo of the boy or disclosed details about his mother’s family.
Andrew Mwenda, a prominent Ugandan journalist and relative of the royal family, wrote on X that Oyo’s family had not been able to produce a photo of the purported son, and declined to disclose details about the family of the boy’s mother.
The Tooro king is selected by a succession committee appointed by the royal clan, and on Wednesday, the committee announced it had chosen Oyo’s cousin Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma, a news anchor and editor at the public broadcaster UBC, as crown prince.
What's still developing
- King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, who became the world’s youngest reigning monarch when he took the throne in the kingdom of Tooro in 1995 at the age of three, died on 27 August in the US, where he was receiving cancer treatment.
- “His majesty leaves behind a prince as his heir, whose identity will be formally revealed at the appropriate time, in accordance with the traditions and customs of Tooro kingdom,” he said.
- “There will be time to examine the will, to hear those advancing a different position, and to consider our customs, the applicable law and the proper institutions through which succession should be determined,” he said in a social media post.
Sources
- The Guardianlink