Tooro Kingdom on Tuesday 12 celebrated the 28th Coronation Anniversary of His Majesty King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV at Karuzika palace, Fort Portal City.
King Oyo ascended to the throne after the death of his father King David Patrick Olimi Kaboyo, making him the youngest ruling monarch in the whole world.
Speaking at the celebrations, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Thomas Tayebwa, commended King Oyo for being a role model for the youth and the people of Tooro.
He praised the youthful king for protecting the traditional values of Africa and Tooro.
“I want to thank you for being a role model to the youth and the kingdom. Now young people know they can fight aids because of you. They know they can protect the environment because of you. I have seen you’re planning to plant over ten 10 million trees, parliament pledges support. We are going to support you so that you can achieve this,” the deputy speaker said in a speech.
Tayebwa said he will personally join the Tooro Kingdom on his birthday to support his dream of planting UGX.10 million trees to save the environment.
Quoting the 2022 Global Wealth Report by Credit Suisse, Tayebwa said that income inequality in the world is alarming with the latest figures indicating that 52.5% of the world population now own less than 1.25% of the global wealth.
“It’s a time bomb. We have to work hard to overcome this. Your majesty, we know if we work with you, the parish development model will help to reduce this kind of income inequality,” he said.
He revealed that the government has completed the process of establishing an industrial park in the Tooro Kingdom.
In his 10-year development plan, King Oyo listed HIV/AIDS eradication, education through youth skilling, commercial agriculture, and kingdom land titling.
Other areas are tourism and sports.
Tooro Kingdom was founded in 1822 when Omukama Kaboyo Olimi I, the eldest son of Omukama of Bunyoro Nyamutukura Kyebambe III of Bunyoro, broke away and established his own independent kingdom.
Tooro Kingdom was part of the large empire of Kitara, under the reign of the Babiito dynasty, which dates back to the 16th century.