FORT PORTAL — Tooro Kingdom has begun preparations to repatriate and bury the late Omukama Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, following his sudden death at the age of 34.
The death of King Oyo, who ascended the Tooro throne at just three years old, has triggered mourning across the kingdom, with cultural leaders, government officials and subjects gathering to organise the next steps.
Engagements were underway Friday at the late King’s home in Buziga, Kampala, involving Tooro Kingdom leaders and government officials.
Tooro Kingdom Second Deputy Prime Minister Henry Basaaliza Mutegeki said discussions were focused on arrangements to bring the King’s body back to Uganda and preparations for his burial.
Tooro Kingdom Prime Minister Calvin Armstrong is also expected to meet President Museveni to discuss the burial arrangements.
At the Tooro Kingdom Palace in Fort Portal, officials began arriving following news of the King’s death. UPDF soldiers serving as royal guards restricted access to the palace, allowing only authorised kingdom officials inside.
Among those seen entering the palace were Omujwera Musuuga Charles Kamurasi, head of the royal clan, and Deputy Prime Minister Harriet Nyakake.
The restricted access has left residents and mourners gathered outside the palace as the kingdom manages the immediate aftermath of the monarch’s death.
The loss has also activated Tooro’s traditional systems of mourning and communication.
Members of the Basiita clan gathered on Friday at a kaswa, a small raised hill, where they sounded an alarm to announce the death of the reigning monarch.
The ritual followed a directive from Omujwera Musuuga Charles Kamurasi, head of the Babiito royal clan and an uncle of the late King.
For many Batooro, the death of a king is therefore not simply the death of an individual. It is a cultural event that activates institutions, clans and rituals that have survived generations.
King Oyo had become one of Uganda’s most recognisable traditional leaders after spending more than three decades on the throne. His coronation on September 17, 1995, made him the youngest reigning monarch in the world at the time.
His death comes just weeks before the 31st anniversary of that coronation.
Meanwhile, James Basaliza, chairperson of the Birika Tooro Association, praised the late King for promoting unity among Batooro living outside the kingdom, particularly in the Ankole and Kigezi sub-regions.
Basaliza said Oyo strongly supported the association’s initiatives and helped its members preserve and promote their cultural heritage.
The tribute highlights one of the defining features of Oyo’s long reign: his attempt to connect the cultural identity of Tooro not only to the kingdom’s traditional heartland, but also to Batooro communities scattered across Uganda.
For a monarch who inherited the throne as a child, Oyo’s reign was unusually long. He grew into the institution rather than simply occupying it.
Now, as Tooro prepares to bury him, the kingdom faces the difficult task of mourning a king who for most of his subjects had always been there.