A Ugandan TV journalist set to be crowned king of a traditional monarchy was due to take the throne of the Tooro Kingdom on Tuesday, 29 September. Prince Edward Rukidi Nyabongo, a longtime broadcaster and editor with Uganda Broadcasting Corporation, was chosen after the death of King Oyo Nyimba last month. The AP reported that the change of reign comes with widespread grief and an open dispute over how the new king was picked.
From newsroom to palace
Nyabongo took the regnal name Edward Rukidi Nyabongo. The AP said he performed rituals overnight, was taken into the palace and would be formally introduced to his followers later on Tuesday. Reuters photographed the rites at the Karuziika Palace in Buhesi, Bunyangabu District, on 28 September. The coronation in Fort Portal, a remote town in western Uganda close to the Congo border, was expected to draw thousands in person and a wider audience on live television.
How he was chosen
Nyabongo was not high in the line of succession. Elders of the kingdom’s ruling Babiito clan picked him from a group of eligible princes after Oyo died of cancer in August at age 34. No heir was publicly known.
Oyo himself became king in 1995 at age three, after his father’s death, and was adored by hundreds of thousands of followers. Mourners filled Fort Portal for his funeral on 12 September.
A contested succession
The queen mother, Best Kemigisa, has challenged the choice. She says the late king’s written will was not followed when Nyabongo was selected. Local media reported tense moments at the funeral as well, including a short disagreement over who should have custody of Oyo’s remains.
The dispute matters because of what Uganda’s traditional rulers represent. Kingdoms were banned in the 1960s, after independence from British rule, by a republican president who said the move would unify the country. They were restored in 1993. Today the rulers hold no formal power and are barred by law from partisan politics, but they carry great weight with their people as guardians of tradition and culture.
For Tooro, the coronation closes one chapter of mourning. Whether it ends the argument over succession is still unclear.
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