Several thousand mourners gathered in western Uganda on Saturday to pay their final respects to King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, the former ruler of the Tooro Kingdom who once held the title of the world’s youngest reigning monarch.
King Oyo, who ascended the throne at the age of three following his father’s death in 1995, died on 28 August 2026 at the age of 34 while undergoing treatment for an aggressive form of cancer in the United States. He had reigned for 31 years. Guinness World Records had previously recognised him as the world’s youngest monarch.
His body was repatriated to Uganda ahead of the burial. It arrived at Entebbe Airport, where President Yoweri Museveni joined mourners to pay respects. After a brief ceremony, a military helicopter flew the coffin to Kyegegwa before it was taken by road to the royal palace in Fort Portal.
At the burial service held at Saint John’s Cathedral in Fort Portal, the late king’s sister, Princess Ruth Komuntale, paid an emotional tribute. “He had a gift to make people laugh,” she said, sobbing. “He always knew how to brighten my day.”
Oyo’s death has triggered a sharp succession dispute. A selection committee of the Babiito royal clan announced earlier this week that Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma, a news anchor with the public broadcaster UBC and a cousin of the late king, had been chosen as the next monarch.
Princess Ruth Komuntale rejected the decision. She accused “evil vultures” of conspiring against her and the Queen Mother, and claimed the royal family had been placed under effective house arrest. She produced a 2022 will she said was written by King Oyo, naming “a biological son” as heir without disclosing the son’s identity. The existence of any such son came as a surprise to many in the Tooro elite and was not reflected in the clan’s succession vote.
In a statement read at Saturday’s ceremony, President Museveni called for calm. “Once the matter of the new king of the Batoro is settled, we will be happy to work with him, just as we did with His Highness Oyo,” he said. “I call on the Batoro to use peaceful and lawful means to resolve this issue and to favour unity over division.”
The head of the Babiito clan, Omusuuga Charles Karumasi, defended the selection process. “We have done everything in observance of the culture and traditions of Tooro. We must all preserve peace and serenity,” he said.
Uganda is a republic that officially recognises four traditional kingdoms, including Tooro. These institutions function primarily as cultural bodies with limited formal political power.
