Tooro’s next king is a broadcaster — and that is the easy part

Uganda is about to crown a man who spent most of his adult life behind a microphone. That alone would be unusual enough. What gives the story its sharper edge is that Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma, 56, is stepping into the Tooro throne at the centre of a family quarrel that has dragged a royal succession into public view, where such matters tend to look less majestic than intended.

Tooro is one of Uganda’s four main officially recognised historical kingdoms, and its late ruler, King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, had occupied the throne for 31 years. He became king in 1995 at the age of three, after the death of his father, and was once described as the world’s youngest monarch. He died last month of cancer at 34. The kingdom now faces the less poetic business of deciding who follows him.

The answer was supposed to be straightforward, at least according to tradition. A recognised son of the late king should inherit. Yet the royal family has split over whether Oyo left such a son, and over whether a will naming the child as successor should have been honoured. Close relatives say the boy exists and was meant to return from the US state of Texas, but he was never presented publicly. The committee of 21 Babiito clan members that chooses the king did not recognise him and instead selected Kijanangoma.

That decision has left Queen Best Kemigisa, Oyo’s mother, openly unhappy. She said the announcement of a second king came after the will was read to members of the royal family and described the moment as deeply painful. She also said celebrations were taking place only metres from where her son’s body lay. Later, she argued on X that no child should be pushed into a situation where returning to his father’s homeland might mean being pulled into hostility and conflict.

The kingdom’s information minister, Charles Mwanguhya, has offered the opposite reading. He said the son being discussed has not been presented anywhere and that there is growing acceptance that King Oyo did not leave one behind. He also said the crown has moved to a different line within the ruling clan. Palace sources say a king must come from the Babiito clan, specifically the line of King George David Matthew Kamurasi Rukidi III. Kijanangoma and Oyo were cousins and grandsons of Rukidi III, who ruled Tooro from 1928 to 1965.

The state has not stayed on the fence for long. Uganda abolished its kingdoms in 1967, then restored them in the early 1990s under President Yoweri Museveni, officially in the name of cultural pride and national unity. In practice, the arrangement has also served as a neat way of keeping communities close to the centre of power. This time, Attorney General Sam Mayanja said Tooro could proceed with the coronation because no formal complaint had been lodged. Museveni is due to attend, and his son and army chief, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has already endorsed Kijanangoma publicly.

The new king’s own biography is less theatrical, which may be part of its appeal. Born in 1970 and raised in Kidukuru village in Fort Portal, about 300 kilometres from Kampala, he later studied mass communication at Makerere University and graduated in 1999. He worked for more than two decades as a broadcaster, including at the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation and in neighbouring Rwanda. For much of that time, he was known as a journalist rather than a royal claimant.

His name, however, has always carried a reminder of where he comes from. His father, the first Kijanangoma, was given that name by Rukidi III; it means the one who comes with the royal drum. Kijanangoma himself has said he will use the connections built over 21 years in journalism to get good things for the people of Tooro. He has also promised that the palace will be open and that he will focus on unity and development.

His mother, Assimwe Yusta Kijanangoma, says he is ready for the role and was raised in strict traditional fashion. She described him as well-mannered, calm and not given to shouting, even when wronged. In a succession dispute, those may count as virtues. In a royal family split over legitimacy, they may also be the minimum required to survive the job.

Written by Martina Kirchner martina.kirchner@alpineweekly.com