KAMPALA, Uganda — President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has revealed that the late King of Tooro, His Majesty Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, left behind a young son who is expected to become his heir.
Museveni made the revelation while mourning the death of King Oyo, who died at the age of 34 following treatment for an aggressive form of cancer in Germany and the United States.
The President said Queen Mother Best Kemigisa informed him during a telephone conversation that the young heir would be introduced to the public at an appropriate time.
“Fortunately, in a telephone call, Her Royal Highness Kemigisa told me that H.H. Oyo left a young boy heir that will be introduced to the public at the right time,” Museveni said.
The revelation comes as the Tooro Kingdom prepares to mourn a monarch whose reign began when he was only three years old following the death of his father, King Patrick Matthew Kaboyo Olimi III.
Oyo became one of Uganda’s most prominent traditional leaders, growing into the role as the kingdom’s cultural institution navigated the complexities of modern Uganda.
Museveni described the King’s death as a major loss to both Tooro and Uganda, saying Oyo had demonstrated the potential to work with central and local governments to advance development in the region.
“In the short life on earth, he had shown that he had potential of working well with the Central and Local Governments to develop Tooro. What a loss to Tooro and Uganda,” Museveni said.
The President also disclosed that the government had supported the Royal Family in seeking medical treatment after Queen Mother Kemigisa informed him that the King had been diagnosed with an aggressive cancer.
“Some months back, Her Royal Highness Kemigisa, Nyinomukama, came to tell me that the Muzzukulu Oyo had cancer that was very aggressive,” Museveni said.
According to Museveni, the government facilitated the family’s efforts to seek treatment first in Germany and later in the United States, where the King died.
The President said Oyo’s death was particularly painful given the monarch’s own difficult childhood. “How unfair life can be!! He was orphaned while still young and he has died young,” Museveni said.
Official burial ordered
Museveni has directed that King Oyo be accorded an official burial and ordered that national flags be flown at half-mast for three days.
The mourning period will cover the day before the burial, the burial day itself and the day after the burial. “I direct that H.H. Oyo be given an official burial and, for three days, all the flags fly at half-mast,” Museveni said.
He extended condolences to the Tooro Royal Family and Ugandans on behalf of himself and First Lady Janet Museveni.
Museveni also praised Oyo for what he described as a constructive relationship with the central government, particularly his decision not to use the cultural institution to promote sectarianism.
“H.H. Oyo worked well with the Central Government, thereby avoiding the mistake of trying to use the Cultural Institutions that were restored by the NRM to promote sectarianism,” he said.
He urged other cultural leaders to understand the importance of the same approach.
King Oyo’s death now leaves the Tooro Kingdom facing a transition whose most significant detail may already have been disclosed: there is a young heir.
But the succession of a king is rarely only about a child inheriting a title. It is about an institution, a people and a history deciding what survives from one generation to another.
The Royal Family is expected to announce further details regarding the young heir and the succession arrangements at the appropriate time.
For now, Uganda mourns a king who inherited his throne as a child, ruled into adulthood and died before reaching 35.
And somewhere within the Royal Family is the next generation of Tooro’s story.