By KAMPALA, Sept 12 (AfrikTimes) -The funeral has been held in western Uganda for a traditional monarch who ascended the throne of the Tooro Kingdom as an infant in 1995 and died last month at 34, triggering a succession dispute that has rocked the royal family and gripped the nation.
The funeral of Tooro’s King Oyo Nyimba in a cathedral in the remote city of Fort Portal, near the Congo border, concludes a nine-day mourning period that was blemished by an increasingly acrimonious dispute over who should succeed him.
Oyo once held the unofficial title of the world’s youngest king, a mesmerizing figure even for world leaders introduced to him at national events, including South Africa’s Nelson Mandela. Oyo was guided by regents appointed by the kingdom until he became an adult at 18.
He will be buried next to his ancestors later on Saturday.
King Oyo, as he was best known to his subjects, was unmarried when he died late in August after suffering from cancer. Elders with the kingdom’s ruling clan, known as the Babiito, said he never declared an heir to them, disputing the account of others in the kingdom who said he left behind a son born out of wedlock. The son has not been publicly identified, leading to sensational claims on social media of at least two possible heirs alleged to be Oyo’s children.
On Wednesday, a committee of Tooro elders announced that they had chosen a prince working as a journalist to succeed Oyo, earning praise from traditionalists who want an adult on the throne and rebuke from the king’s closest relatives.
Oyo’s sister, Ruth Komuntale, said the announcement sought to “bring division and turmoil.” Queen Mother Best Kemigisa said in a statement that the succession battle undermined their ability to mourn the king’s death. “I also appeal to those fighting over the throne: please, there will be time for all of that,” she said in a statement. “Let us grieve and bury my son King Oyo.”
Traditional monarchs are beloved but don’t wield any formal power in the East African country.
Oyo was crowned in 1995, at the age of 3, after his father’s death. He was a curious child in colorful robes and an object of adoration for his hundreds of thousands of followers.
At his coronation, he went through a series of tribal rituals and was led into the royal cemetery to perform a coming-of-age ceremony: successfully tossing nine coffee beans into his father’s tomb.
Amid the ongoing succession dispute, it was not clear who would perform this rite.
The matter of Oyo’s successor could go to the courts, after his family said he left behind a will that had been ignored by Tooro elders.
“This is one of those deaths, the Bob Marley kind, that one never heals from,” Timothy Kalyegira, a prominent analyst who is from Tooro, said in a eulogy posted on social platform X.
“Not Oyo; not that likeable young man; not at 34. That’s what makes it so painful.”
King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Irugu Rukidi IV sits on the throne at his palace in Fort Portal, 270 km (168 miles) southwest of Kampala April 17, 2010. King Oyo, 18, the youngest king in the world, ascended the throne aged three, after his father, the late King Patrick Kaboyo died in 1995.
TOORO KINGDOM PREPARES TO BURY KING OYO, FORMER WORLD’S YOUNGEST MONARCH
Uganda’s Tooro Kingdom prepared on Saturday to bury its late king, Oyo Nyimba, long the world’s youngest monarch, following days of a bitter succession battle within the royal family.
Royal guards clad in orange shawls and beating wooden sticks led the hearse carrying Oyo’s casket in a solemn procession through the streets of the kingdom’s capital, Fort Portal, in western Uganda. King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV made global headlines in 1995 when he took the throne at age 3. Images of the toddler king donning a crown and royal robes sparked curiosity and adoration around the world. He died last month at 34 in the United States, where he was receiving treatment for cancer.
His casket, draped in the blue-and-yellow Tooro flag, was driven from the royal palace to St. John’s Cathedral for a ceremony before hundreds of mourners, including senior Ugandan government officials and delegations from chiefdoms in neighbouring countries.
Uganda is led by an elected head of state but retains several kingdoms that pre-date the British colonial era and are seen as bulwarks of traditional identity and heritage. Oyo went on to become a U.N. goodwill ambassador who championed the fight against HIV and AIDS. “Although he became king and carried responsibilities far beyond what most people ever experience, he never completely lost the young boy who loved to have fun,” said his sister, Ruth Komuntale, in her eulogy.
King Oyo, once world’s youngest monarch, funeral in western Uganda
SUCCESSION BATTLE THREATENED TO DELAY BURIAL
After the cathedral service, Oyo will be buried at the site of the royal tombs. The Omusuna, the traditional chief priest charged with burying Tooro’s monarchs, will guide the incoming king in the custom of casting nine coffee berries into the grave.
Whether the new king would be in place to perform that mandatory rite had been in doubt.
A committee consisting of members of the royal clan announced on Wednesday it had chosen Oyo’s cousin, Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma, a news anchor and editor at state broadcaster UBC, as king.
But Oyo’s immediate family said his hitherto unknown son should succeed him, as called for in the late king’s will. Oyo never married and was not known to have any children until the kingdom’s prime minister said he had a son in the August 27 statement announcing his death.
Supporters of Kijanangoma’s succession say Oyo’s family has not been able to produce basic information about the purported son.
A source with knowledge of crisis talks over the matter said Ugandan authorities had successfully pushed through Kijanangoma’s succession on Friday. A government spokesperson could not be reached for comment.
The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, Stephen Kazimba Mugalu, called for unity within the royal family.
“Words spoken in grief can cause pain, division and conflict,” he told mourners. “It can even destroy the legacy of the king we are mourning.”
The flag-draped coffin with the body of King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, of the Tooro Kingdom, who died in late August aged 34 while receiving treatment in the U.S., during a ceremony at the Entebbe International Airport, in Entebbe, Uganda September 4, 2026.
LATE KING WAS CHAMPION OF FIGHT AGAINST HIV, FRIEND OF GADDAFI
Oyo himself took the throne after a protracted succession battle that finished in court.
In addition to his ceremonial responsibilities and campaigning against HIV and AIDS, Oyo cultivated close ties with former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, whom he named a special adviser to the monarch. Gaddafi donated money towards refurbishment of the royal palace.
The 56-year-old Kijanangoma, who maintained a lower profile as the succession battle played out, has been described by fellow Ugandan journalists as quiet and humble.
Besides the throne, the new king will inherit a considerable royal estate including swathes of land and sizeable cash payouts from the central government.
Mourners accompany the body of the late King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV as it is brought to church in Fort Portal, Uganda on September 12.
Reporting by Elias Biryabarema. Editing bny Aaron Ross, Alex Richardson and Mark Potter
