Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba has endorsed Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma as the new Omukama of Tooro, giving a major boost to the prince whose selection has plunged the kingdom into a fresh succession controversy.
The Chief of Defence Forces and President Yoweri Museveni’s son publicly recognised Kijanangoma as the new cultural leader of Tooro on Tuesday, amid growing disagreement within the royal family over who should occupy the throne left vacant by the death of Omukama Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV.
Kijanangoma’s emergence followed a succession process involving members of the Ababiito, but the announcement has not been universally accepted within the royal family.
Instead, the decision has opened a new chapter in an increasingly bitter contest over Oyo’s successor.
A succession battle after Oyo
Oyo died in August at the age of 34 after battling cancer, bringing to an end a reign that had lasted more than three decades.
He ascended the Tooro throne in 1995 as a three-year-old following the death of his father, Patrick Matthew Kaboyo Olimi III.
His death immediately created a succession question that has since produced competing claims, meetings and interpretations of Tooro’s traditional customs.
At one stage, George Desmond Kamurasi emerged from a meeting of the Royal Succession Committee as the preferred successor.
That development was subsequently challenged, with senior figures in the kingdom insisting that the process had not been concluded.
Kijanangoma later emerged as the new choice, setting the stage for another dispute.
Komuntale challenges the process
Princess Ruth Nsemere Komuntale, Oyo’s sister, has questioned the legitimacy of the process that produced Kijanangoma.
Komuntale said the committee had not conclusively confirmed a successor and indicated that another meeting was expected.
She has also maintained that Oyo left behind a legitimate heir, a position that has become central to the camp resisting the installation of another member of the royal family.
The disagreement has consequently evolved beyond the question of which prince should become king.
It now touches on whether Oyo’s own wishes and succession arrangements should influence the process, and who ultimately has the authority to determine the next Omukama.
Team Baby King suffers another setback
Those supporting Oyo’s biological heir have been left facing an increasingly difficult succession battle.
The camp had hoped that the late king’s heir would be given priority in determining the future of the Tooro throne.
The emergence of Kijanangoma had already complicated those expectations.
Muhoozi’s public endorsement now adds another significant setback.
His intervention is particularly notable because it comes from one of Uganda’s most powerful public figures and places an influential political and security figure squarely behind Kijanangoma at a time when sections of the royal family are still disputing the succession process.
For Kijanangoma’s supporters, the endorsement strengthens the legitimacy of his claim.
For those opposed to his selection, however, it is likely to intensify concerns about the direction of the succession and the involvement of actors outside the traditional process.
The declaration also comes at a sensitive moment for Tooro, barely weeks after the death and burial of Oyo, whose reign had become deeply intertwined with the identity of the kingdom.
With rival positions still being advanced within the royal family, the question of whether Kijanangoma’s selection will command broad acceptance remains unresolved.
But Muhoozi has now made his own position unmistakably clear.
“My fellow Ugandans the new Omukama of Tooro is His Majesty Edward Rukidi Nyabongo I. Long may he reign. God bless him always. God bless Tooro.”
Earlier, it emerged that the culture Minister was expected to gazettee the new Omukama appointed by Tooro Kingdom, as reported Here.
