News
Coronation service for Tooro King Nyabongo underway in Fort Portal
At 9:43 am, the King arrived with his Baduma (royal guards), accompanied by additional SFC security personnel. Before he stepped out of the vehicle, the church bells rang out.
Coronation service for Tooro King Nyabongo underway in Fort Portal
By: Nelson Kiva and Ibrahim Ruhweza, Journalists @New Vision
________________
The coronation service of Omukama Edward Rukidi Nyabongo is underway at St John’s Cathedral in Fort Portal city as he completes the final rituals leading to his accession to the royal throne.
At exactly 9:45 am, Nyabongo took his royal seat inside the church.
This was followed by the singing of the Tooro kingdom anthem for the first time since the passing of King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, who died in the United States on August 27 while receiving cancer treatment. The national anthem was then sung.
The Bishop of Rwenzori Diocese, Rueben Kisembo, is the main celebrant of the historic service.
At 9:43 am, the King arrived with his Baduma (royal guards), accompanied by additional SFC security personnel. Before he stepped out of the vehicle, the church bells rang out.
The king walked alongside his wife, Rebecca Amoding, in a composed display. Although he did not sing throughout the start of the service, he occasionally joined in. Local government minister Balaam Barugahara was also among those behind him.
According to the cathedral administration, the church service was expected to start at 9:30 am upon the king’s arrival. He had earlier gone through a series of rituals from Rwengoma Palace to the royal throne seat at Karuziika Palace. The service was delayed by only five minutes.
Both the Tooro royal establishment and the church administration confirmed that their relationship runs deep.
The king walked alongside his wife, Rebecca Amoding, in a composed display. Although he did not sing throughout the start of the service, he occasionally joined in. Local government minister Balaam Barugahara was also among those behind him.
According to the cathedral administration, the church service was expected to start at 9:30 am upon the king’s arrival. He had earlier gone through a series of rituals from Rwengoma Palace to the royal throne seat at Karuziika Palace. The service was delayed by only five minutes.
Both the Tooro royal establishment and the church administration confirmed that their relationship runs deep.
“It began when Omukama Kasagama embraced Christianity and opened the kingdom to missionaries and evangelists, a decision that shaped the religious character of the monarchy for generations,” Rev. Father Charles Oyo, spokesperson of the Babiito clan, said.
According to Oyo, Kasagama personally donated the land on which St John's Cathedral sits, roughly 150 acres surrounding the cathedral, and mobilised his people to raise resources for its construction.
The cathedral was commissioned in 1937 under Omukama George Kamurasi Rukidi III and remains, to this day, the site where Tooro kings are baptised, confirmed, crowned and sent off in death.
The funeral service of King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV was conducted at the cathedral on September 12, 2026, before his burial at the Karambi Royal Tombs, located about six kilometres from Karuziika along the Fort Portal-Kasese Road.
President Yoweri Museveni will preside as the chief guest as Nyabongo I takes over as the 13th King of Tooro.
Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma, a former news anchor and editor at Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC), was declared the new Omukama of Tooro by the Babiito royal clan on September 9, 2026, amid protests from Princesses Elizabeth Bagaya and Ruth Komuntale, and former Queen Mother Best Kemigisa, who faulted the succession process
According to Oyo, Kasagama personally donated the land on which St John's Cathedral sits, roughly 150 acres surrounding the cathedral, and mobilised his people to raise resources for its construction.
The cathedral was commissioned in 1937 under Omukama George Kamurasi Rukidi III and remains, to this day, the site where Tooro kings are baptised, confirmed, crowned and sent off in death.
The funeral service of King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV was conducted at the cathedral on September 12, 2026, before his burial at the Karambi Royal Tombs, located about six kilometres from Karuziika along the Fort Portal-Kasese Road.
President Yoweri Museveni will preside as the chief guest as Nyabongo I takes over as the 13th King of Tooro.
Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma, a former news anchor and editor at Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC), was declared the new Omukama of Tooro by the Babiito royal clan on September 9, 2026, amid protests from Princesses Elizabeth Bagaya and Ruth Komuntale, and former Queen Mother Best Kemigisa, who faulted the succession process