Oyo was a great king
King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Rukidi IV will be remembered as a great king.
King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV. (File photo)
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I was privileged to have the opportunity to meet with His Royal Highness. This was back in 2019 and took place at his palace/Karuziika in Fort Portal, a tourism city I visited very regularly to oversee the refugee situation there and the environs, together with the Government of Uganda.
I was immediately struck by the fact that King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV was able to balance his traditional role as a king of an important kingdom, while also demonstrating a very modern vision as to his role and the positive difference he could make to his kingdom and its population.
The modernity of the king was amply demonstrated by his efforts to promote tourism in and around Fort Portal and the rest of his Kingdom. He did so successfully and showed the way forward to continue developing this city that has such a great potential!
The King was also a unifier, as a king should be! He actively promoted peace and unity in the kingdom of Tooro. In his search for peace and unity, he embraced humankind as a whole, starting with Uganda’s neighbours. That is what prompted him to donate land in Kyaka and Rwamwanja, where refugees – the most vulnerable of the vulnerable people – settled and are living in peace with their Ugandan hosts, thereby setting an almost unique example of generous treatment of refugees, that is often mentioned all over the world.
Former UNHCR Representative in Uganda Joel Boutroue, interacting with King Oyo during his maiden visit to Karuziika in Fort Portal.
For all this, and many other actions and initiatives he took, King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Rukidi IV will be remembered as a great king. He will be sorely missed, as a king of course, but also as a humanitarian, as a peacemaker; in short, as an individual with a deep sense of humanity and a very high sense of his important duties.
While we all cry about the passing of the King who was taken away from his people so prematurely, there is solace in thinking that he left solid foundations for his successor so that his initiatives can live on, be taken forward and amplified.
May you rest in eternal peace, Ikingura.
Joël Boutroue
Former Country Representative, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 2018 - 2022