FORT PORTAL — Prince George Desmond Kamurasi declined to take up the Tooro throne after emerging as the preferred candidate of the Babiito Royal Succession Committee, Rev. Fr. Charles Oyo Amooti has confirmed.
Fr. Oyo, a member of the 21-member succession committee, said Kamurasi was ranked first after the committee vetted several members of the Babiito royal clan following the death of Omukama Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV.
“After vetting the candidates, we numbered them. We had priority one, priority two and priority three,” Fr. Oyo said.
“After that, we vetted them and we engaged them one by one. The first one said, ‘No, I have responsibilities and I am not able to be king.’ The next one; good enough accepted the responsibility and we gave him the opportunity to be our next king,” he added.
Kamurasi, a UK-based footballer and cousin of the late King Oyo, had reportedly emerged as the committee’s first choice after receiving 15 votes in the selection process.
His decision opened the way for the committee to consider other candidates, eventually resulting in the selection of Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma as the next Omukama of Tooro. Kijanangoma is a former Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC) news presenter and the son of the late Prince Christopher Paul Kijanangoma.
The succession process, however, has since become contested.
Members of the late King’s immediate family, including his sister Princess Ruth Komuntale and Queen Mother Best Kemigisa, have rejected Kijanangoma’s selection, arguing that King Oyo’s 2022 will named his biological son as heir to the throne.
The will, dated September 14, 2022, states that if Oyo was survived by a lawfully recognised biological son, he would be appointed heir to the Tooro throne in accordance with the Institution of Traditional or Cultural Leaders Act, 2011, and Tooro customs.
It further names Prince Komwiswa Yoweri as the alternative successor if the son were unable to assume the throne, followed by Prince Nyaika Solomon.
The Babiito clan, however, has said the reported son had not been formally presented to the clan in accordance with Tooro customary procedures. Fr. Oyo said children considered for future leadership are traditionally introduced to elders and undergo ceremonies and preparation before being considered for succession.
The dispute has placed the succession process under renewed scrutiny, with King Oyo’s family calling for his burial to take precedence over the contest for the throne.
King Oyo died aged 34 on August 27, 2026, while receiving cancer treatment in the United States. His burial is scheduled for September 12 at the Karambi Royal Tombs in Fort Portal.
The Babiito clan had earlier said succession to the Tooro throne remained a cultural process under its authority.
The competing claims have left the kingdom facing a succession dispute at a particularly sensitive moment, with the late king’s family insisting that his written wishes should be respected while the Babiito succession committee maintains that it followed Tooro customs in selecting his successor.
