The head of the Babiito royal clan, Omujwera Musuuga Charles Kamurasi, has explained why the clan did not recognise the reported son of the late Omukama Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV as his successor, saying the child was brought into the succession process without the knowledge of the traditional clan leadership.
Kamurasi was speaking to journalists at the Uganda Media Centre on Thursday, as government confirmed that Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma had been formally selected as the new Omukama of Tooro.
Kijanangoma is scheduled to be crowned as Edward Rukidi Nyabongo I on September 29 at Karuziika Palace in Fort Portal.
Explaining the clan’s position, Kamurasi said Tooro tradition requires members of the royal family to be involved when a child is born to a reigning king, under the leadership of the Omujwera Musuuga.
“When a new child is born of the king, the first people are supposed to be family members under the chairmanship of Omujwera Musuuga,” Kamurasi said.
He cited the circumstances surrounding the birth of King Oyo, saying Oyo’s father, the late Omukama Patrick Matthew David Kaboyo Olimi III, was serving as Uganda’s ambassador to Cuba when the future king was born.
According to Kamurasi, Kaboyo contacted him and asked him to visit the newborn child and report back to him.
“When King Oyo was born, his father was serving in Cuba as an ambassador. The child was born when his father was out of the country, and his father called me to go and see the child and report back to him,” he said.
Kamurasi said the same traditional procedure should have been followed in relation to Oyo’s reported son.
“That child, if he is born from abroad and he is brought here without the knowledge of Musuuga, we cannot accept him,” he said.
The comments come amid a dispute within the Tooro royal family over who should succeed Oyo, who died on August 27, 2026, aged 34.
Members of Oyo’s family, including Queen Mother Best Kemigisa and Princess Ruth Komuntale, have disputed the selection of Kijanangoma, arguing that the late king left a son who should inherit the throne. They have also referred to a purported will said to provide for the succession of Oyo’s son.
The Babiito royal clan, however, selected Kijanangoma on September 9 through a 21-member succession committee headed by Kamurasi. The Tooro Kingdom Supreme Council subsequently endorsed him on September 15.
Kamurasi has maintained that the selection followed Tooro’s customary procedures and Uganda’s legal framework.
Government on Thursday also affirmed the succession process, with State Minister for Gender and Culture Affairs Mary Kuteesa Kamuli saying the recognised traditional institutions had completed the process and that government was processing the formal recognition of the new king in the Uganda Gazette.
The government position, however, has not ended the disagreement within the royal family.
The Attorney General had earlier said there was no formal court challenge preventing the kingdom from proceeding with the coronation, while members of Oyo’s family have continued to contest the succession.
Kamurasi said the Babiito clan would proceed with the September 29 coronation, when Kijanangoma will formally assume the name Edward Rukidi Nyabongo I.
The coronation date was announced after the Supreme Council endorsed Kijanangoma as Oyo’s successor.
