King Nyabongo I dismisses faultfinders as background noise, focuses on serving subjects
“To those who hold negativity or hate speech against me, we shall not listen to them, and we term that as background noise. We shall move on working for Tooro kingdom,” Nyabongo explained.
Nyabongo said the kingdom is now focused on addressing the many challenges it is facing, including cancer deaths and cases within the kingdom and neighbouring places. (Credit: Samuel Amanyire)
FORT PORTAL - Edward Rukidi Nyabongo I, the new King of Tooro, has broken the silence on the viral negative criticism against his leadership on social media, dismissing the fault-finders as background noise.
The Tooro King instead pledged to serve the interests of his people.
While at Christian Fellowship Church situated in Fort Portal City, Nyabongo said he would not listen to voices of negativity, especially those who criticise his leadership and the entire process of selecting him as the new king.
“To those who hold negativity or hate speech against me, we shall not listen to them, and we term that as background noise. We shall move on working for Tooro kingdom,” Nyabongo explained.
Nyabongo was, on September 29, 2026, crowned as the new king of Tooro after successfully performing all the rituals, including burying the body of the late king, Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, as Tooro Kingdom culture requires
Nyabongo said the kingdom is now focused on addressing the many challenges it is facing, including cancer deaths and cases within the kingdom and neighbouring places.
“You heard that even what caused the death of our lovely king Oyo was cancer. Surprisingly, even children nowadays are among the many affected by the same disease,” he said.
“Above all, there is a need for us to understand that cancer kills. Let us embrace early diagnosis, and if we do so, together we shall fight the enemy,” Nyabongo said.
As a result, Nyabongo said the kingdom will conduct his birthday run on December 19, where all the proceeds will be invested in constructing the King Oyo Memorial Cancer Hospital to extend services nearer to the people.
He also hinted on making Fort Portal a tourism city by working closely with all the stakeholders in the tourism sector.
“We also need an industrial park to offer both skilled and semi-skilled jobs to our people,” he revealed.
How negative criticism started
Upon receiving the news of King Oyo's passing on, Tooro Kingdom's chief prince Charles Kamurasi Akiiki, culturally referred to as Omusuuga, assumed all the powers of the monarch as their institution requires and spearheaded the succession process.
The Omusuuga instituted a 21-member succession committee, which he chaired as the head of the Babiito clan and after due diligence, they announced Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma Nyabongo, a 56-year-old former news presenter and editor at the state-run Uganda Broadcasting Corporation. Nyabongo is also a cousin of the late king Oyo.
The announcement was immediately rejected by the late king’s closest relatives, including Oyo’s sister Princess Ruth Komuntale and Queen Mother Best Kemigisa, who insisted that the monarch left a biological son and a 2022 Will, which they said should guide the succession process. However, the said son was never produced, prompting the Omusuuga to proceed with installing Nyabongo as the next King of Tooro.