Journalist Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma Crowned King of Uganda’s Tooro Kingdom
Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma has been crowned the 13th monarch of Uganda’s Tooro Kingdom after a royal committee selected him to succeed his cousin, the late King Oyo Nyimba.
Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma has been crowned king of Uganda’s Tooro Kingdom following a succession dispute involving the family of the late monarch, King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV.
Kijanangoma, 56, was selected by a 21-member committee from the royal Babiito clan. He has taken the royal name Edward Rukidi Nyabongo I and becomes the 13th monarch of the Batooro people.
He succeeds Oyo Nyimba, his cousin, who died the previous month from cancer at the age of 34.
Traditional coronation ceremony
The coronation took place in the Tooro Kingdom, with ceremonies including the slaughter of a bull and the sprinkling of a hen’s blood.
Nyabongo I walked to Karuziika Palace in Fort Portal from midnight to 3am on Tuesday before taking part in a mock battle for the crown, according to the supplied report.
Former colleagues at UBC, where he worked as a news anchor and editor, described the new king as humble and down to earth.
Dispute over succession
The selection has faced objections from Best Kemigisa, Oyo Nyimba’s mother, and Princess Ruth Komuntale, his sister. They said the late king left behind a young son who was entitled to inherit the throne and that a will named the child as heir.
The identity of the alleged son has not been disclosed. The reason for withholding it remains unclear, and the supplied information does not establish whether the child exists.
Critics of the claim said the alleged child would have needed to be introduced to the kingdom’s elders while Oyo Nyimba was alive in order to become a legitimate heir. The child’s claim and the succession remain disputed.
Traditional institutions
Uganda is a constitutional republic governed by an elected president. Its four pre-colonial kingdoms no longer hold political power but remain influential symbols of identity and heritage.
The coronation places the Tooro Kingdom’s traditional institution under a new monarch while questions over the late king’s reported heir remain unresolved.
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