Kampala — The remains of Tooro King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV will arrive in Uganda on Friday, September 4, as the kingdom prepares for a nine-day mourning period culminating in his burial on September 12, exactly 31 years after he ascended the throne.
The late King’s body will be received at Entebbe International Airport by President Yoweri Museveni, who is expected to pay his last respects before the remains are flown to Kyegegwa District and transported by road towards Fort Portal.
The programme was revised after Tooro Kingdom received requests from communities along the route who wanted an opportunity to see off the monarch. From Kyegegwa, the casket will travel in a slow-moving procession through Kyegegwa, Kyenjojo and Kabarole before reaching Karuziika Palace.
The decision means thousands of mourners are expected to line the road to Fort Portal as Tooro brings home the King who ruled the kingdom for 31 years.
Fr Charles Oyo, head of communications in the Office of the Omujwera Musuuga, said the procession would allow subjects to pay their respects while maintaining order.
“Many people have requested an opportunity to bid farewell to the King as the body is in transit,” Fr Oyo said. He urged mourners to remain calm and conduct themselves in a manner befitting the people of Tooro.
Nine days of mourning
Once the remains reach Karuziika Palace, the official nine-day cultural mourning period will begin.
According to Tooro’s traditional protocols, the formal mourning period is counted from the day the King’s body arrives at the palace rather than from the date of his death.
The palace will host members of the royal family, Babiito clan elders, cultural leaders, religious leaders, government officials and members of the public paying their final respects before the burial at the Karambi Royal Tombs.
The choice of September 12 for the burial carries particular historical significance. It is the same date on which Oyo ascended the Tooro throne in 1995, at just three years old, following the death of his father, King Patrick Matthew Kaboyo Olimi III.
His death on August 27 at the age of 34 brought to an end one of the most unusual royal stories in modern Africa: a child became king before he could properly understand the meaning of kingship, grew into adulthood under the weight of a throne, and eventually became one of Uganda’s most recognisable cultural leaders. Reuters reported that Oyo attracted international attention after becoming the world’s youngest reigning monarch at three.
Parliament to honour King Oyo
As Tooro prepares for the return of the remains, Parliament will hold a special sitting today, September 3, to pay tribute to the late monarch.
The motion is listed on Parliament’s Order Paper and will be moved by the Prime Minister and Leader of Government Business, with Leader of the Opposition Joel Ssenyonyi among those expected to second it.
The debate is expected to examine King Oyo’s contribution to culture, tourism, environmental conservation, youth empowerment and Uganda’s international profile.
Speaker Jacob Marksons Oboth had earlier described the King’s death as a loss extending beyond the royal family.
“When a king departs, it is not only a family that mourns, a kingdom mourns, a people mourn and the nation feels the loss,” Oboth said.
President Museveni has directed that King Oyo receive an official burial and that national flags fly at half-mast for three days: the day before burial, the burial day and the day after.
Other kingdoms join the mourning
The death has also disrupted the calendars of other Ugandan cultural institutions.
Busoga Kingdom has postponed the 12th coronation anniversary celebrations of Kyabazinga William Wilberforce Gabula Nadiope IV from September 13 to September 19 to allow Ugandans to attend King Oyo’s burial.
Busoga Prime Minister Joseph Muvawala said the decision was taken to honour the late Tooro monarch. The kingdom’s Gabula Day celebrations scheduled for September 9 in Buyende will, however, proceed and will include a tribute to King Oyo.
Buganda has also sent condolences to Tooro. Katikkiro Charles Peter Mayiga visited King Oyo’s residence in Buziga on Wednesday and called on the people of Tooro to remain calm and united during the mourning and transition.
Mayiga said the relationship between the Buganda and Tooro royal families stretches back almost two centuries. He recalled that Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II was among the guardians of Oyo when the young king was still a minor.
Succession placed under the Babiito clan
Behind the mourning, however, another question is quietly taking shape: who comes next?
The succession process has already generated competing claims concerning whether King Oyo left a biological son who could inherit the throne.
President Museveni said after speaking with Queen Mother Best Kemigisa that Oyo had left a young boy heir who would be introduced at an appropriate time. But the head of the Babiito royal clan, Omujwera Musuuga Charles Kamurasi, has said the clan was not aware of such a child.
The dispute has prompted calls for restraint.
Government has urged the public to avoid spreading unverified information on social media while consultations continue between the state and Tooro’s traditional leadership.
Under the protocols announced by Tooro, the Musuuga and the Babiito royal clan have responsibility for guiding the cultural succession process. A 21-member committee of Babiito elders has been constituted to identify and formally announce the next Omukama.
Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom Chief Prince Fred Mugenyi Rukyunya has also backed the Tooro Musuuga’s authority, urging the Batooro to allow the traditional institution to guide the succession process.
For now, however, succession has been placed behind the funeral.
First comes the return of the King.
Then the mourning.
Then, perhaps, the question that every monarchy must eventually answer: when the throne becomes empty, who has the right to fill it?
For Tooro, that answer is expected to emerge not from the noise of social media, but from the customs and authority of the Babiito royal clan.
