FORT PORTAL — Newly declared Tooro King Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma has pledged to open the royal palace to the people and make development a central focus of his reign if he is formally crowned Omukama.
Kijanangoma, who was selected by the Babiito Royal Succession Committee as the successor to the late King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, outlined his priorities shortly after participating in the traditional burial rites for Oyo at the Karambi Royal Tombs on September 12.
According to Daily Monitor, Kijanangoma said he would seek to make the palace more accessible to ordinary Batooro and use the institution to promote development across the kingdom.
He also urged the Batooro to draw lessons from the unity he said had helped other kingdoms make progress.
Kijanangoma’s remarks come as Tooro seeks to navigate a succession dispute that has divided members of the royal family and the Babiito clan following Oyo’s death on August 27, 2026, at the age of 34.
The Babiito succession committee announced Kijanangoma as Oyo’s successor on September 9, with 19 members reportedly endorsing his selection.
The selection, however, has been contested by Oyo’s mother, Queen Mother Best Kemigisa, and his sister, Princess Ruth Komuntale, who have argued that the late king left a will naming his biological son as heir.
The dispute has since taken a legal dimension. Attorney General Dr Sam Mayanja advised that Oyo’s reported will should be followed and that any challenge to its validity should be determined by a court rather than by the succession committee.
Despite the dispute, Kijanangoma was presented through the traditional process during Oyo’s burial and participated in the ritual of casting nine coffee beans into the late king’s grave, a ceremony associated with the transfer of kingship in Tooro.
President Yoweri Museveni has called for a peaceful resolution of the disagreement, while Tooro Prime Minister Calvin Armstrong Rwomiire has urged the kingdom to prioritise reconciliation and institutional stability.
Kijanangoma’s proposed agenda places development and unity at the centre of his claim to the throne, as the kingdom awaits the completion of the formal process for enthronement.
Daily Monitor has reported that the process of installing a new Omukama is not considered complete until the king’s name is included in the national gazette.
Kijanangoma, a news anchor and editor with Uganda Broadcasting Corporation, is a cousin of the late Oyo. His selection has attracted national and international attention because of the unresolved dispute over whether Oyo’s reported son should instead inherit the throne.
