FORT PORTAL, Uganda — The Tooro Kingdom in western Uganda has selected Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma, a television news anchor and editor at state broadcaster UBC, as the successor to the late King Oyo Nyimba.
The royal clan’s succession committee announced Kijanangoma’s selection on Wednesday at a press conference in Fort Portal, the kingdom’s capital.
The decision comes less than a month after Oyo Nyimba died in the United States at the age of 34, having reigned over Tooro since he was three years old.
Oyo Nyimba dies aged 34
Oyo Nyimba died on August 27 in the United States, where he had been receiving treatment for cancer.
He became the world’s youngest reigning monarch in 1995, according to Guinness World Records, after ascending to the Tooro throne at the age of three.
A video from his coronation shows the young king seated on his throne with a toy, his small frame almost hidden beneath his royal robes and crown.
Although Uganda is a constitutional republic, the Tooro Kingdom remains one of the country’s traditional kingdoms and retains significant cultural and social influence.
Oyo Nyimba also served as a U.N. goodwill ambassador and championed efforts to fight HIV and AIDS.
News anchor selected as new king
The succession committee selected Kijanangoma, who works as a news anchor and editor at Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC), to succeed Oyo Nyimba.
His selection, however, has immediately triggered a dispute within the royal family over who should inherit the throne.
The announcement contradicted an earlier statement by Tooro Kingdom Prime Minister Calvin Armstrong Rwomiire, who had said that Oyo Nyimba, although unmarried, had left behind a child who was his heir.
Princess Ruth rejects succession decision
Hours after the succession committee announced Kijanangoma as the new monarch, Princess Ruth Komuntale, Oyo Nyimba’s only sister, rejected the decision.
Komuntale said she and their mother, Best Kemigisa, did not accept Kijanangoma’s selection.
She said Oyo Nyimba had left a will identifying his son as the next person in line to the throne.
“My brother, he left behind a will which stated very very clearly that the next person in line is his son, that’s the heir to the throne,” she said.
Komuntale added that the will also identified Oyo Nyimba’s preferred successor in the event that his son was unable to assume the crown.
Her remarks have therefore created a direct dispute between the succession committee’s decision and the position of the late king’s immediate family.
Oyo Nyimba’s burial preparations
Oyo Nyimba’s body was returned to Uganda from the United States on Friday, as preparations continued for his burial.
He is expected to be laid to rest on Saturday at the royal tombs near his palace in Fort Portal.
The burial will take place as the Tooro Kingdom deals with the unresolved question of succession following the death of the monarch who ruled the kingdom for more than three decades.
