FORT PORTAL — King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV of Tooro has been buried at the Karambi Royal Tombs in Fort Portal, bringing to an end the public funeral rites for the late monarch.
Thousands of mourners accompanied the king’s body on an approximately six-kilometre procession from St John’s Cathedral, Kabarole, to the royal tombs, in a final journey that drew cultural leaders, government officials, members of the royal family and the public.
The burial followed a funeral service at St John’s Cathedral led by the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, The Most Rev. Dr Stephen Samuel Kazimba Mugalu.
Oyo was later accorded an official burial, with a seven-gun salute fired in his honour.
Minister Milly Babalanda, who attended the funeral service, said the government had supported the late king’s medical treatment, repatriation of his body and funeral arrangements.
She thanked President Yoweri Museveni for according Oyo an official burial and called on the people of Tooro to remain united following his death.
“Today, I joined the Deputy Speaker, Rt. Hon. Thomas Tayebwa, government dignitaries, the people of Tooro Kingdom, cultural leaders and thousands of Ugandans to pay our last tribute to the late King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV during the funeral service at St John’s Cathedral,” Babalanda said.
She described Oyo as a monarch who would be remembered for ascending the throne at the age of three and ruling Tooro for nearly three decades.
The burial, however, came amid tension over the succession to the Tooro throne.
Earlier in the day, reports emerged of a standoff involving Queen Mother Best Kemigisa as the king’s body prepared to leave for the royal tombs.
Journalist Canary Mugume reported that the burial eventually proceeded following intervention by President Museveni through Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa and Minister Gen David Muhoozi Tumukunde.
Mugume also reported that the Queen Mother and Princess Ruth Nsemere Komuntale remained inside the vehicle during the tense episode and that security personnel, including UPDF soldiers, were heavily deployed.
The circumstances surrounding the reported confrontation had not been independently confirmed by the UPDF or Police at the time of publication.
The tension followed a dispute over Oyo’s successor. The Babiito royal clan has confirmed Prince Edward Rukidi Kiijanangoma as the new King of Tooro, with Musuuga Charles Kayondo Kamurasi saying the selection was made in accordance with Ugandan law and Tooro culture.
However, Queen Mother Kemigisa and Princess Komuntale have challenged the succession process, maintaining that Oyo left a will providing for his biological son to inherit the throne.
Komuntale has repeatedly said the family knows the reported heir and has questioned why the late king’s will was being bypassed.
Oyo died on August 27, 2026, aged 34, after receiving treatment for cancer in the United States. He became Omukama of Tooro in 1995 following the death of his father, King Patrick Matthew Kaboyo Olimi III.
His burial at Karambi now marks the close of his reign, but the question of who will succeed him remains contested within the Tooro royal family and wider Babiito clan.
