KAMPALA —President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni on Friday received the body of Tooro King Omukama Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV at Entebbe International Airport, describing the late monarch as a good person and leader whose death has left the nation grieving.
The aircraft carrying King Oyo’s remains landed at the VIP Terminal at exactly noon, where the President joined members of the Tooro Royal Family led by Queen Mother Best Kemigisa, Tooro Kingdom officials, government ministers and religious leaders for a solemn reception.
After paying his last respects, President Museveni recalled his long association with the Tooro Royal Family and the efforts made to secure specialised medical treatment for the King.
“Sorry for the loss of the grandchild, King Oyo. We looked after him, we took him to school, and he grew up, but now the Lord has taken him,” Museveni said.
The President said Queen Mother Best Kemigisa first informed him about King Oyo’s illness in November 2025, during the campaigns ahead of the General Election.
“The Queen Mother came and visited me in November 2025 during the campaigns ahead of the elections, and she told me about this problem of aggressive cancer that had started disturbing the King,” he said.
Museveni said he subsequently supported efforts to secure specialised treatment for the King, first in Germany and later in the United States.
“But they were unable to save the King,” he said.
The President described King Oyo as a good leader who served Tooro throughout his reign with distinction.
“During his entire leadership as King of Tooro, he was a very good person and leader. May the Lord grant him eternal rest. Amen,” Museveni said.
Solemn reception
After the aircraft landed, the President proceeded to the flagmast area where the casket was formally received.
The Uganda Police wrapped the casket in the national colours and the colours of the Tooro Kingdom before carrying it through a guard of honour.
President Museveni then paid his final respects and laid a wreath as the Uganda Police Brass Band played solemn hymns.
Members of the Royal Family, Cabinet ministers, Tooro Kingdom officials and religious leaders also paid their last respects.
The President later met selected members of the Royal Family, including the Queen Mother, at the Presidential Lounge.
The delegation accompanying the remains, together with selected members of the Royal Family, later departed by helicopter for Kyegegwa District as King Oyo’s final journey to Tooro continued.
From Kyegegwa, the remains were airlifted to Karuziika Palace in Fort Portal, where funeral and cultural rites will continue.
King Oyo, who died aged 34, ascended the Tooro throne on September 12, 1995, when he was only three years old.
His official burial is scheduled for September 12, 2026, exactly 31 years after his coronation.
For a King who inherited the throne as a child and grew into the role before the eyes of his people, Friday’s ceremony marked the beginning of his final journey home.
