Newly Selected Tooro King Edward Kijanangoma Coronation Date Set Despite AG Sam Mayanja’s Advice to Museveni

FORT PORTAL — Tooro Kingdom has fixed September 29, 2026, for the coronation of Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma as the new Omukama, pressing ahead with plans to install him despite an Attorney General’s legal opinion to President Yoweri Museveni that the succession dispute should first be resolved.

The date was announced on Tuesday evening by Omujwera Musuuga Charles Kamurasi, head of the Babiito royal clan, during a press conference at Karuziika Palace in Fort Portal City.

The announcement came shortly after the Tooro Kingdom Supreme Council endorsed Kijanangoma, who will reign under the name Nyabongo I, as successor to the late Omukama Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV.

The Supreme Council’s decision has now been followed by a formal date for the coronation, setting the stage for the next major ceremony in the kingdom following Oyo’s burial at the Karambi Royal Tombs on September 12.

“[Tuesday morning] we had the Kingdom Supreme Council and it endorsed Nyabongo I, and now as Babiito royal clan, we have decided the date of coronation to be September 29, 2026, here at the palace,” said Omusuuga.

Kamurasi said preparations for the ceremony would begin immediately, with the kingdom expected to constitute committees responsible for organising the coronation.

“Effective Wednesday, preparation meetings will commence and we shall also institute different committees for the coronation,” said Kamurasi.

Coronation moves ahead amid legal dispute

The announcement places the Babiito royal clan’s position directly against a legal opinion issued by Attorney General Sam Mayanja to President Museveni on September 12.

In the opinion, Mayanja advised that Oyo’s will should guide the succession process and argued that the validity of the document could only be challenged in court. Reports on the opinion say it addressed the disputed question of a biological son whom members of Oyo’s family have identified as the late king’s intended heir.

Mayanja subsequently said the government would not gazette Kijanangoma as Omukama until the succession dispute was resolved, maintaining that the Babiito elders’ declaration did not by itself settle the contested claims.

The Babiito have, however, maintained that the Attorney General’s opinion was directed to the President rather than to the kingdom or the royal clan.

Asked about the legal opinion during the press conference, Kamurasi said the Babiito were aware of it but had not received any formal communication stopping them from continuing with the succession process.

“The opinion was meant for the President. As a kingdom, we have not received any information that bars us from proceeding with the coronation,” said Kamurasi.

From Oyo’s death to Kijanangoma’s reign

Kijanangoma’s rise to the throne follows a succession process that began after the death of Oyo on August 27, 2026, at the age of 34 while receiving cancer treatment in the United States. Oyo had become king in 1995 at the age of three and subsequently reigned for more than three decades.

The royal succession process initially produced another name before Kijanangoma emerged as the selected successor. The decision has nevertheless remained contested by members of Oyo’s immediate family, including Princess Ruth Komuntale and Queen Mother Best Kemigisa, who have pointed to a 2022 will said to provide for a biological son to succeed the late king.

The dispute has therefore continued even after Oyo’s burial, with the royal clan proceeding with Kijanangoma’s installation while the government’s formal recognition remains a separate issue.

The Attorney General’s position has specifically concerned gazettement and the legal process surrounding succession, while the Babiito have maintained that their traditional process has produced a successor.

New reign awaits formal coronation

The September 29 ceremony at Karuziika Palace is now expected to formally mark the beginning of Kijanangoma’s reign as Nyabongo I.

The announcement also comes only days after Tooro completed the funeral rites for Oyo, whose nine-day mourning period culminated in his burial at the Karambi Royal Tombs.

For the Babiito, the Supreme Council endorsement and the setting of a coronation date represent the continuation of the traditional succession process. For Oyo’s family, however, questions surrounding the late king’s reported will and the identity and status of his purported heir remain part of the unresolved succession dispute.

With preparations now scheduled to begin, September 29 has become the next major date in Tooro’s closely watched transition from the 31-year reign of Oyo to the proposed reign of Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma.

Meanwhile, the Musuuga has revealed that the keys to the palace have gone missing, as reported Here.