Bunyoro Chief Prince says "let Musuuga guide Tooro succession..."
Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom Chief Prince Okwiri) Fred Mugenyi Rukyunya has backed his Tooro Kingdom counterpart, Musuuga Charles Kamurasi, urging the Batooro to respect his authority as the kingdom navigates a sensitive transition following the death of King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukiidi IV.
In Bunyoro, Okwiri is also the head of members of the Babiito royal clan, whose title is the same as that of the Musuuga in Tooro Kingdom.
Okwiri said the Musuuga has a central role to play in guiding Tooro through the succession process, including preparations for identifying and eventually enthroning a new king.
He made the remarks on Tuesday afternoon when he led a delegation of Babiito royal clan members from Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom to Karuziika Palace in Fort Portal to mourn King Oyo, who died last week.
The Bunyoro Chief Prince urged Batooro and members of the wider Babiito royal family to respect the Musuuga's role during the period before a new king is enthroned.
“When the King passes on, the responsibility for the continuity of the Kingdom goes back to Musuuga. All questions get back to him, including enthroning a new king,” he said.
He cautioned subjects against allowing competing voices to create divisions over who should succeed King Oyo, saying there would ultimately be only one king.
“His word, I don't want any person to despise it because he is the one who is now the head of the Kingdom,” the prince said.
“People from Bunyoro and all Babiito are concerned about the King's death. What I am reading on social media, we need to leave it. We shall have one king. Even if many wish to become king, one will be king.”
The delegation arrived with nine cows to support activities surrounding the mourning of the late monarch.
The prince said once a successor is identified, all subjects should rally behind him regardless of their personal preferences.
“Whoever is named king, all people need to support him and rally behind him. It will be Musuuga who will announce him before the enthronement,” he said.
He also called for restraint during the transition, warning that disagreements over succession could weaken the institution at a time when it is mourning its monarch.
“The King has passed away. Let us manage this situation in peace. I already know words are going to be many, but let us use our wisdom. Let the death of our King not leave Tooro disunited,” he said.
Succession question
King Oyo's death has left Tooro without a reigning monarch and triggered preparations for the succession to the throne.
While details of the succession process have not yet been publicly laid out in full, the Omujwera Musuuga, Charles Kayondo Kamurasi, has emerged as a key figure in discussions about the transition as head of the Babiito royal clan.
Addressing the visitors, Mr Kamurasi said Tooro and Bunyoro are closely related cultural institutions because of their shared Babiito royal heritage.
He described the two kingdoms as “twins”, saying Tooro emerged from Bunyoro roughly two centuries ago.
“You now all see what is happening. Our kingdom is being ruled in Buganda. We shall not accept that as Batooro,” Mr Kamurasi said.
The history of Tooro is closely tied to its breakaway from Bunyoro-Kitara in the 19th century. Tooro was established as a separate kingdom after Prince Kaboyo Olimi I, a son of Omukama Kyebambe III of Bunyoro, asserted control over the area that became Tooro.
Kaboyo is regarded as the first Omukama of Tooro, establishing the Babiito dynasty that has continued to occupy the Tooro throne.
The two institutions have therefore retained strong cultural and historical links, particularly through the Babiito royal clan, even though they have existed as separate kingdoms for generations.
Mr Kamurasi thanked the Bunyoro delegation for standing with Tooro and appealed to the Babiito to protect their respective institutions from division.
“I want to thank you, Okwiri, for standing with us, and we shall be with you. We shall be together,” he said.
He also referred to the late King Oyo's father, King Patrick Matthew Kaboyo Olimi III, saying that words attributed to the former king should continue to guide the royal family.
“I want to tell the people of Tooro, late King Kaboyo, while he was going to die, said, ‘Be strong,’ and up to now his words are still guiding us. Please protect the throne of Bunyoro; don't accept being disunited,” Mr Kamurasi said.
Dispute over Supreme Council meeting
The succession question has also exposed tensions over the respective roles of Tooro's cultural and administrative leadership.
A planned meeting of the Tooro Kingdom Supreme Council scheduled for Tuesday was called off by Prime Minister Calvin Armstrong Rwomiire, who said the immediate focus was on arrangements for the return of King Oyo's body and the mourning period.
The meeting had been expected to bring together members of the council at the kingdom headquarters in Muchwa, Fort Portal.
There was a heavy deployment of police and UPDF personnel at the venue, and some council members who arrived, including Mr Kamurasi, were reportedly turned away.
The cancellation has since raised questions about the respective roles of the Kingdom's political-administrative leadership and cultural authorities during the succession process.
Mr Moses Musinguzi, a member of the Supreme Council, criticised the decision to cancel the meeting, saying it should have gone ahead because one of the matters expected to be addressed was the official communication to council members about the king's death and the subsequent arrangements.
He argued that succession is fundamentally a cultural matter and should therefore be handled by the appropriate cultural authorities.
“It is unfortunate to see that the Prime Minister called off the meeting. It was uncalled for because what was on the agenda was for Musuuga to officially announce to members of the council the passing of the King and make a plan,” Mr Musinguzi said.
He added: “It is like the Prime Minister, who is supposed to be in administration, is now entering into other people's roles. We are now in culture; the head is Musuuga in the absence of the King.”
Mr Musinguzi called on the Prime Minister to avoid what he described as interference in the cultural affairs of the Babiito.
“I want to ask the Prime Minister to immediately avoid involving himself in issues of culture of Babiito,” he said.
He also questioned the Prime Minister's involvement in previous Supreme Council meetings.
“The meeting he has called, he does not know its value because in his term of office he never attended one. The last time he was in the meeting was when he was appointed. He should leave Musuuga and the Speaker to do their roles,” Mr Musinguzi said.
