Museveni recounts last message from King Oyo

The head of state revealed how he was saddened weeks ago when he landed on the last letter that the former king wrote to him, weeks before his death.

“I want to salute the memory of King Oyo for the wonderful work he did when he was king here,” Museveni said.

“I was very sad because on the day after he was buried here I was going through my documents and I found a letter he had written to me on the 15th of June 2026, where he was where he was. I found it on the day after he was buried. I was very, very sad.”

In the letter, Museveni said the former king was thanking him for a number of things including appointing ministers from Tooro.”

“This means that by June he was still writing letters and he was alright.”

Oyo died in August while receiving cancer treatment in the United States. He was buried at Karambi Royal Tombs on September 12, 2026. His successor’s coronation marked the start of a new reign after a dispute over the succession.

Turning to the new king, Museveni emphasized the important role that he and other traditional leaders must play in protecting indigenous values, languages and knowledge.

He said older cultural rules addressed conduct within families and called for renewed attention to practices he believed could help protect public health.

“Traditions have a key role to play in protecting the indigenous values and traditions, our languages and science. Historically the culture of families had a very comprehensive code. We have had very thorough systems that are not as shallow as the Europeans ones. There was nothing that was not addressed,” he said.

“When you talk about promiscuity, the people of Ankole were very strict about it. They clearly distinguished in their language and practice, between premarital pregnancies and pregnancies during marriage and they were very strict in discouraging pregnancies before marriage. That thorough code, Uganda and Africa need it, because these are not just mere practices.”

He cited differences in HIV prevalence between parts of Uganda to support his argument about sexual behaviour.

“If you want proof, go and check the HIV prevalence in southern Uganda in areas like Fort Poral, Mbarara, Kampala and compare them with that of Karamoja. In Karamoja, it is around 3% while in the south it is between 10-15%”

“The Karamojong are still traditional. They are polygamous but still they do not have AIDS and yet here where we have religion and kingdoms, the situation is different”