Who takes over after Oyo?
“When our king dies we mourn for nine days and after nine days and during those days the royal drum is turned upside down meaning we don’t have a king, then we bury and the ritual to install a new king also takes another nine days and on the ninth day the new price turns the royal drum up (Ajumura Engoma) and he takes over as the new king,” says Fred Mwijakubi an 80 year old resident if Rwengoma in Fort Portal City.
“The continuity of the Crown is assured. His Majesty leaves behind a Prince as his heir,” the Prime Minister said. However, the identity of the Prince has not been made public.
FORT PORTAL - After the demise of King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, a lot of speculation is being spread in different corners about who will take over the cultural administration of the kingdom since the Omukama left no official wife.
While announcing the death of Omukama Oyo, Calvin Amstrong Rwomiire, the prime minister, said the late king left behind a Prince who will inherit the Tooro Crown.
Rwomiire assured the people of Tooro that the succession of the monarchy remains secure.
“The continuity of the Crown is assured. His Majesty leaves behind a Prince as his heir,” the Prime Minister said. However, the identity of the Prince has not been made public.
Rwomiire said the heir’s identity will be formally revealed at the appropriate time, in accordance with the traditions and customs of the Tooro Kingdom.
The announcement introduces a new chapter for the Tooro monarchy following the death of King Oyo, who ascended the throne as a child and became one of Uganda’s most prominent cultural leaders.
On Friday evening, while addressing the press, Harriet Nyakake, the kingdom's 1st deputy prime minister, called for calm, unity and respect for its traditions as preparations for the King’s funeral and the eventual transition to the new monarch get underway.
The Prime Minister said further details, including funeral and mourning arrangements, will be communicated through an official statement.
The announcement of an undisclosed Prince as heir is expected to generate significant interest as the Kingdom prepares to formally unveil the next custodian of the Tooro Crown.
According to the constitution of the kingdom, the Omukama can be succeeded by his biological son, who becomes a heir after his death and is enthroned nine days after the burial of the king.
“When our king dies, we mourn for nine days; during those nine days, the royal drum is turned upside down, meaning we don’t have a king. Then we bury, and the ritual to install a new king also takes another nine days, and on the ninth day, the new prince turns the royal drum up (Ajumura Engoma), and he takes over as the new king,” says Fred Mwijakubi, an 80-year-old resident if Rwengoma in Fort Portal City.
Mwijakubi, who says that he was present when Oyo’s father, Patrick Olimi Kaboyo, was being crowned, says that in case the king leaves no male child, they look for a king in the family of the king’s brother.
Line of succession
The king must come from the royal Babiito family; we only wait for them to sit and choose amongst themselves who will become a king,” he adds.
He says in this case the head of the royal clan, Omusuga Charles Kamurasi, will convene a clan meeting and they present the crown prince to the other clans of Tooro.
Eligibility requirements
According to Fred Mugasa, a member of the royal family, for one to be able to take over the kingship, he must be from the royal family and male.
“Not every Mubiito can be a king; it’s not like we have lineage where kings come from. We look at the family connections in case the king hasn't left an heir.
In 2015, Prince David Kijanangoma shot to the limelight for being critical of King Oyo’s reign. Kijanangoma accused Oyo of abandoning his kingdom to live in Kampala, failing to prevail over his mother, Best Kemigisa, from interfering in Kingdom administration, among others.
Kijanangoma, then aged 47, is the son of the late Paul Kijanangoma, who was the son of George Edward Rukidi. He is also the younger brother of Happy Kijanangoma, who was in 1995 shot dead in Fort Portal town.
In 2013, Kijanangoma was behind the organisation of a get-together party of great-grandchildren of the late Kings of Tooro. King Oyo was supposed to grace the event, but he didn't. It angered the prince and other members of the royal family.
He was then offered one of the oldest palaces in the kingdom to live in. The palace located in Rwengoma is of historical importance in Tooro. Every king, before being crowned, had to first perform rituals at the palace, then walk 2km to the main palace at Karuzika in Fort Portal town.
However, Kamurasi said that by then Kijanangoma wasn’t entitled to the throne. Kamurasi explained that there are two people in line of succession to the throne. They are Jimmy Mugenyi or Steven Karamagi, Oyo's paternal uncles.
Who is in charge
On Friday, Charles Kamurasi, the head of the royal family and an uncle, said that he is currently the one with authority over the Tooro kingdom now that the king is dead.
“Nobody has any authority over these issues of making declarations on social media without my consent. It's me who is supposed to address the media on issues concerning the kingdom now,” Kamurasi said during a media interview at the palace.