FORT PORTAL — Andrew Mwenda has come under growing fire after dramatically jumping ahead of Tooro Kingdom’s traditional timetable to publicly reveal George Desmond Kamurasi as the reported successor to the late King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru IV.
Mwenda, a veteran journalist and political commentator with longstanding links to Tooro’s royal family, announced on September 4 that the 21-member Royal Succession Committee of the Babiito clan had selected Kamurasi, 36, as the next Omukama.
His revelation came before Oyo’s burial—and before the kingdom itself had formally announced the identity of its next king.
That timing has now become the centre of an increasingly heated debate, with Kampala Deputy Lord Mayor Doreen Nyanjura accusing Mwenda of effectively assuming a role traditionally reserved for Tooro’s royal authorities.
“Woke up to Andrew Mwenda acting as self-appointed spokesperson/Omusuuga for Tooro Kingdom, announcing a new King,” Nyanjura posted on September 5.
She said the announcement had immediately sent Tooro social-media groups into a frenzy.
“All Tooro social media groups are on fire, with photos and videos of the alleged new King circulating!”
But Nyanjura questioned why Mwenda appeared so eager to disclose the decision.
“Why was Mwenda in a rush to break news that wasn’t his to break? And why emphasize endorsement by Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba?”
Rather than engage in the succession debate, she said she would continue mourning Oyo.
“For now, let me continue mourning the People’s King, Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru IV.”
Nyanjura later sharpened her criticism, dismissing the argument that Mwenda’s disclosure was necessary to stop speculation.
“Whether necessary or not, it wasn’t Mwenda supposed to make the announcement, he simply has Rugambo!”
The comments capture the central dilemma surrounding Mwenda’s scoop: was he simply reporting a major decision already made by the succession committee, or did he cross a cultural boundary by announcing a new king before Tooro was ready to do so?
Mwenda said he was deliberately bringing the information into the public domain to prevent rumours and competing claims from spiralling on social media.
According to him, the committee met at Fort Motel in Fort Portal City on September 4.
Of the 18 members who attended, he said 15 voted for Kamurasi.
Mwenda identified Kamurasi as the son of George Desmond “Jimmy” Mugenyi, younger brother of former Tooro King Patrick David Matthew Kaboyo Olimi II, making Kamurasi a first cousin of the late King Oyo.
He further linked the selection to the will of their grandfather, King George Rukidi III, under which Mugenyi was reportedly placed second in the line of succession.
Mwenda said he had spoken to Omusuuga Charles Akiiki Kamurasi, chairman of the succession committee, who confirmed that Tooro custom requires the formal public announcement of a new monarch only after the burial of the previous king.
Yet Mwenda proceeded to reveal the committee’s decision anyway.
He also reported that Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba endorsed Kamurasi’s selection as consistent with Tooro customs, precedents and laws, while President Yoweri Museveni supported the committee’s decision.
That reference to Muhoozi’s endorsement has itself attracted attention, with Nyanjura specifically questioning why it featured so prominently in the announcement.
The controversy is further complicated by conflicting accounts over a young child reportedly left behind by Oyo.
Following the king’s death, Tooro Kingdom Prime Minister Calvin Armstrong Rwomiire Akiiki said Oyo had left behind a Prince and heir whose identity would be revealed at the appropriate time.
President Museveni subsequently said Queen Mother Best Kemigisa had informed him that her son had left a young boy who would be introduced publicly at the right time.
But Omusuuga Charles Kamurasi later said the Babiito royal clan knew nothing about such a child and that succession would therefore proceed according to established clan traditions.
Nyanjura has now added another explosive claim to that unresolved question.
“Apparently, the 3 year old baby heir got just one vote! The Omusuuga 21 committee rejected the baby Prince, claiming they don’t know him and that his name changed from Jackson to Jacob Oyo in a day !”
She also pushed back against any suggestion that the child’s name being unclear necessarily undermined his identity.
“I baptized my first born when she was 5 years old, so it’s possible the baby Prince wasn’t even baptized yet.”
The claims about the committee’s vote and the child’s name have not been independently established in the material publicly available, but they have added fresh fuel to an already delicate succession debate.
Kamurasi, reportedly 36, is a member of the Babiito royal lineage and a cousin of the late king.
His reported selection follows the constitution of the 21-member succession committee after Oyo’s death.
The committee was chaired by Omusuuga Charles Akiiki Kamurasi and tasked with guiding the process of identifying a successor, preparing the cultural ceremonies and overseeing the transition.
Mwenda’s disclosure therefore did not come out of nowhere. It was based on a reported decision of the very committee responsible for the succession process.
The dispute is instead over timing, authority and procedure.
Supporters of Mwenda argue that the public had a right to know once the committee had reached a decision, especially amid conflicting reports over Oyo’s successor.
His sister, junior government minister Margaret Muhanga, defended him in journalistic terms.
“If [you] studied journalism, then you know what’s called a scoop,” she posted.
But opponents argue that a royal succession cannot be treated like an ordinary breaking-news story, particularly while the kingdom remains in mourning.
The criticism has become particularly sharp because Oyo’s body only arrived in Uganda on September 4—the same day Mwenda announced his successor.
Oyo died in the United States in August 2026 while undergoing treatment for aggressive cancer. He had ascended the Tooro throne in 1995 at just three years old after the death of his father, King Patrick David Matthew Kaboyo Olimi III.
He was formally crowned upon reaching adulthood in 2010 and ruled Tooro for nearly 31 years.
His death at 34 ended one of Africa’s most unusual royal journeys—the reign of a child king who grew into one of Uganda’s most prominent traditional leaders.
His remains were flown back to Uganda and received at Entebbe Airport on September 4 before being taken to Karuziika Palace in Fort Portal.
His burial is scheduled for September 12 at the royal mausoleum in Karambi.
Until then, the reported selection of Kamurasi remains caught between a committee decision and a pending traditional public announcement.
And as Tooro mourns, a new question has emerged alongside the succession battle:
Was Andrew Mwenda simply breaking a major story—or did he break the kingdom’s rules by announcing its next king before the funeral of the old one?
Read about how Andrew Mwenda rose to become Uganda’s Most Influential Man Without a Government Job HERE.
Also read interesting facts about new Tooro king Omukama George Desmond Kamurasi and his Mzungu Wife Here and There.
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