Journalist named successor as Uganda buries world's youngest king

The royal council chief of Uganda's Tooro Kingdom, Omujwera Musuuga Charles Kayondo Kamurasi, announced Saturday that journalist Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma is the next monarch, following the death of his cousin, King Oyo Rukidi IV.

Musuuga, the head of the Babiito royal clan from which the Tooro kings trace their lineage, made the announcement before mourners gathered to pay their final respects to the late king, who died at 34 on Aug. 27 in the US, where he was receiving cancer treatment.

King Oyo was crowned at the age of 3 in 1995 after the death of his father. He earned a Guinness World Record as the world’s youngest reigning monarch. He led his people via regents appointed by the kingdom until he came of age at 18.

He died last month in the United States, where he was receiving treatment for cancer.

“I wish to inform Tooro and Uganda at large that Tooro has a new king. The council of the Babiito sat and elected Edward Rukidi. Whatever we’ve done is in accordance with Ugandan law, and we have put our Tooro culture and norms into consideration, let’s all maintain unity and always remember our culture,” Musuuga remarked.

Mixed reactions were heard from the congregation as Musuuga announced the successor, signaling a bitter royal succession dispute in the Tooro Kingdom.

Earlier, King Oyo’s immediate family, notably his mother, Queen Best Kemigisa, and sister, Princess Ruth Komuntale, publicly rejected the clan council's choice, insisting that King Oyo had left a will dictating that his hitherto unknown son should succeed him to the throne. Clan leaders said that a royal child must be officially introduced to elders in order to be considered for leadership.

Still unmarried at his death, he had no children known to the clan members or the public, plunging the kingdom into a rapid succession crisis.

King Oyo was the 13th monarch of the Tooro Kingdom, which was founded more than 200 years ago and ruled over more than two million people. He was laid to rest at the Karambi Royal Tombs in the western Ugandan city of Fort Portal on Saturday.

Traditional monarchs in Uganda

Uganda is a republic ruled by an elected president, but the country retains several traditional monarchies that still preside over their kingdoms. Their power is largely symbolic, but they wield considerable cultural and social influence. They are legally not allowed to engage in partisan politics and have no political authority.

Oyo Nyimba was arguably one of the most recognizable among them because of his unusual story, taking the throne at the age of 3.

His unusual status as a modern “boy king” led to considerable interest early in his reign, including from world leaders like former Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi, who repeatedly visited Tooro and supported Oyo and the queen mother for years before Gadhafi’s death in October 2011.

He spent time in the UK at Winchester University to complete his education. This time away from Uganda prompted a failed challenge to his position in 2015, when his cousin Prince David Kijanangoma declared himself the rightful king of Tooro, accusing Oyo of neglecting the region.