FORT PORTAL — Tooro King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV was on Saturday laid to rest at the Karambi Royal Tombs in Fort Portal City, concluding a state-supported funeral attended by thousands of mourners, members of the royal family, cultural leaders and government officials.
The late King’s body was taken from St John’s Cathedral after a funeral service and accompanied by mourners on an approximately six-kilometre procession to the royal burial grounds.
King Oyo, who died on August 27, 2026, aged 34 while receiving cancer treatment in the United States, was buried after more than three decades on the Tooro throne. He ascended to the throne in 1995 at the age of three, becoming the world’s youngest reigning monarch at the time.
A seven-gun salute was fired during the burial ceremony.
The funeral service at St John’s Cathedral was attended by, among others, Tooro Kingdom Prime Minister Calvin Armstrong Rwomiire, Buganda Katikkiro Charles Peter Mayiga, Buganda Prince David Wasajja, Busoga Katukiiro Dr Joseph Muvawala, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa, ministers Norbert Mao and Maj Gen Jim Muhwezi, and other government and cultural leaders.
Queen Mother Best Kemigisa and Princess Ruth Nsemere Komuntale were also present, with the Queen Mother delivering an emotional tribute to her son.
“Leave my son alone. God, take me first. If I’m a bad person, take me,” Kemigisa said during her speech.
Princess Komuntale recalled that her brother had asked the family to keep his cancer diagnosis private because he did not want to cause panic in the kingdom.
“When my brother was diagnosed with cancer, he asked us not to tell anyone because he did not want to create panic within the family and the kingdom, and we respected his wishes,” she said.
The funeral came amid an unresolved dispute over Oyo’s succession. The Babiito Royal Succession Committee selected Prince Edward Rukidi Kiijanangoma as the next Omukama, a decision opposed by the immediate royal family.
Musuuga Charles Kayondo Kamurasi, the traditional head of the Babiito royal clan, reaffirmed the committee’s decision during the funeral.
“I want to inform you, the people of Tooro and Uganda at large, that we have a King. We sat down and agreed on one thing: the King is Prince Edward Rukidi Kiijanangoma. Whatever we have done, we have done within the laws of Uganda and the culture of Tooro,” Kamurasi said.
Queen Mother Kemigisa and Princess Komuntale have maintained that Oyo left a biological son whom they say was named as heir in his will.
Komuntale has argued that the Tooro throne should pass according to the kingdom’s traditional succession practices rather than through an electoral process.
The succession dispute had triggered calls for restraint and dialogue as the kingdom prepared for Oyo’s burial.
Government officials and cultural leaders, meanwhile, called for unity within Tooro following the king’s death.
Minister for the Presidency Milly Babalanda, who attended the funeral, thanked President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni for supporting Oyo’s medical treatment in the United States, the return of his body to Uganda and the organisation of his official funeral.
“On behalf of the National Organising Committee, I wish to express our deepest and most heartfelt gratitude to His Excellency President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni for allowing His Majesty King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV a befitting official burial and for standing with the Kingdom at such a darkest hour,” Babalanda said.
She urged the people of Tooro to remain united and preserve Oyo’s legacy.
The burial at Karambi Royal Tombs marks the end of the public mourning ceremonies for King Oyo, who ruled Tooro for nearly three decades.
