Uganda holds talks on Toro king’s successor ahead of burial
Ugandan authorities have joined talks over a dispute concerning the successor to the throne of the Toro Kingdom following the death of 34-year-old King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV. The parties seek to reach an agreement before the monarch’s burial, scheduled for Saturday, as the successor must perform rites that can be carried out only by heirs to the throne.
This was reported by TimesLIVE, citing Reuters. The king died in late August while receiving treatment in the United States. He ascended the Toro throne in 1995 at the age of three.
Dispute over the throne
The conflict arose on Wednesday, when the succession committee, which includes members of the royal clan, announced its choice of the late monarch’s cousin, Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma. He works as a news presenter and editor at the state broadcaster UBC.
The decision drew objections from the king’s closest relatives, including his mother, Queen Kemigisa, and his sister, Princess Ruth Komuntale. Komuntale said at a press conference that her brother’s will provides for his son to inherit the throne. The queen mother also condemned what she described as a self-appointed group of clan members for choosing a new monarch, although the will had been read to them several hours earlier.
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Government involvement
Toro Kingdom spokesperson Vincent Mugume said representatives of the royal family and clan were holding meetings, while the central government was taking part in the talks. Another source familiar with the situation told Reuters that the government was pressuring Queen Kemigisa to accept the committee’s decision. There have been no public government comments on these talks.
King Oyo was not married, and it had previously not been known that he had children. Ugandan journalist and relative of the royal family Andrew Mwenda wrote on X that the family had been unable to show a photograph of the boy it calls the late king’s son and had not disclosed information about his mother’s family. According to Mwenda, a king’s son in Toro can inherit the throne only if he was born to a queen who was officially married to the monarch.
The successor will inherit substantial royal holdings, including land, cash payments and other gifts from the central government. Meanwhile, thousands of people are arriving in Fort Portal, the capital of Toro, to bid farewell to the monarch and attend the burial.
