King Oyo’s final journey home begins as kingdom kicks off burial preparations
The casket containing the body of the 34-year-old monarch was taken to a cargo facility at the airport, where relatives, friends and Ugandan officials gathered for a brief prayer service before the aircraft carrying his remains departed for Uganda.
The late King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV. (File)
_____________
The final journey home for the body of the late Omukama of Tooro Kingdom, King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, has started with his casket departing Dallas Fort Worth International Airport in the United States on Wednesday, September 2, 2026.
The casket containing the body of the 34-year-old monarch was taken to a cargo facility at the airport, where relatives, friends and Ugandan officials gathered for a brief prayer service before the aircraft carrying his remains departed for Uganda.
The prayers were held to seek safe passage for the late King on his final journey back to the land he ruled for more than three decades.
King Oyo died in Dallas, Texas, on August 27, 2026, after battling aggressive brain cancer.
His death brought an end to a remarkable reign that began when he was only three years old. He was crowned in 1995 following the death of his father, King Patrick Matthew Kaboyo Olimi III, becoming the world's youngest reigning monarch.
During the prayers at the airport, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson expressed condolences following the King's death, recalling the close relationship between the monarch and the city, including an occasion when he presented King Oyo with a key to Dallas.
According to the permanent secretary in the Office of the President, Yunus Kakande, and high-ranking sources in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the body will be accompanied by nine people, including Queen Mother Best Kemigisa, the King's sister Princess Ruth Komuntale, Komuntale’s husband and other cousins.
The aircraft will make a stopover in Amsterdam before flying to East Africa and landing in Nairobi.
Kakande said; "the plane is expected to arrive at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport at 9:00 am on Friday (September 4), after which the body will be transferred to a private aircraft for the final leg to Entebbe airport."
The plane is expected to arrive at Entebbe Airport at 10:00am on Friday.
From Entebbe, the funeral programme will move into a carefully planned procession intended to allow the people of Tooro to witness the return of their King.
Sources said the military will airlift the casket by helicopter from Entebbe to Kyegegwa District, from where the remains will begin the final road journey towards Karuziika palace in Fort Portal.
The casket will be placed on an open, slow-moving carriage, allowing mourners and subjects along the route to pay their last respects .
Thereafter, the Kingdom will begin a formal nine-day mourning period.
According to the head of the Babiito royal clan, Omusuuga Charles Kamurasi, after the mourning period, "King Oyo's body will be laid to rest at the Karambi Royal Tombs on September 12, 2026."
If the date is not changed, the late King will be buried exactly on the day of his coronation. King Oyo was crowned on September 12, 1995.