Key facts
- King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV of Uganda's Tooro kingdom has been buried.
- A royal clan committee selected news anchor Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma as the new king.
- The late king's sister, Princess Ruth Nsemere Komuntale, stated his will designates a previously unknown son as heir.
- King Oyo died on August 27 in the US after cancer treatment.
- Queen Mother Best Kemigisa Akiiki denounced the selection committee and claimed the royal family was under house arrest.
King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, once the world's youngest reigning monarch, has been buried in Uganda's Tooro kingdom, amid a bitter succession dispute. The burial took place on Saturday, 31 years to the day after his own coronation.
A committee of the royal clan announced Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma, a news anchor and editor at the public broadcaster UBC, as the crown prince. However, King Oyo's sister, Princess Ruth Nsemere Komuntale, stated that the late king's will designates a previously undisclosed son as his heir.
The will reportedly reads: “I hereby declare and direct that if, at the date of my death, I am survived by a son lawfully recognised as my biological son, I appoint him as my heir to the throne of the kingdom of Tooro.”
Queen Mother Best Kemigisa Akiiki denounced the committee's selection, calling them a "self-appointed group of clan members" and claimed the royal family was under house arrest, with troops deployed around the palace.
King Oyo, who ascended the throne at age three in 1995, died on August 27 in the US where he was receiving cancer treatment. He was 34 years old and was not known to have any children. The Tooro kingdom’s prime minister, Calvin Armstrong Rwomiire Akiiki, revealed the existence of a son in a social media post on August 27, stating his identity would be revealed at the appropriate time.
Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni laid a wreath on the king's casket at Entebbe International airport. The Tooro kingdom is one of five ancient kingdoms in Uganda recognized by the government, whose monarchs are revered as symbols of tradition but have no political authority.