Journalist to be crowned king in Uganda after bitter succession dispute

Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma Nyabongo II, who is set to be crowned king of Uganda’s Tooro kingdom later, has long been a familiar face in the country.

For many Ugandans, he was known not as the heir to the throne, but as a storyteller, as a long-serving anchor and editor at the state broadcaster.

But Kijanangoma, 56, has now become the subject of media attention himself – his rise to the Tooro throne sparking controversy and widespread reactions beyond the country.

Tooro is one of Uganda’s four mainofficially recognised historical kingdoms. For the last 31 years, it has been headed by King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, who was once known as a “boy king”, after ascending to the throne as an infant.

Oyo became king in 1995 at the age of just three, following his father’s death. Then the world’s youngest monarch, he ruled until he died last month from cancer, aged just 34.

The coronation is a day of celebration, with traditional practices beginning at midnight. The new king then walks about 4km (2.5 miles) to the official Karuziika royal palace where he is crowned.

A mock fight follows to signify that kingship does not come easy, and he is then blessed by members of the royal Babiito clan, the Tooro kingdom’s Information Minister Charles Mwanguhya told the BBC Focus on Africa podcast.

He performs other ceremonies that signify his assumption of the throne before he sits on the throne and an actual crown is placed on his head to signify his new authority, his new position as the new Tooro king.

But the selection of Kijanangoma as king was far from straightforward.

According to tradition, a recognised son of the late king should succeed him. Close members of the royal family said that Oyo had left a young son and a will instructing that the child should be next on the throne.

But the son has never been revealed to the public, nor was he recognised by the committee of 21 Babiito clan members who chose the king and eventually selected Kijanangoma.

The late King Oyo was never publicly married, and little is known about his wife or their son.

Nonetheless, his mother, Queen Best Kemigisa, argued that the late king’s will ought to have been respected.

However, the royal succession committee ignored her wishes, insisting their selection process was conducted in accordance with Tooro customs and traditions.

The new king has thus found himself at the centre of a succession dispute, with Kemigisa and her close relatives unhappy with the outcome.

The late King Oyo’s mother has expressed her pain over the succession row

Kemigisa referred to Kijanangoma’s selection as the “announcement of a second king” being “made after the will of King Oyo was read to members of the royal family”.

“As a mother, that was extraordinarily painful,” she said, describing celebrations for the next king taking place “only metres from where my son’s body lay”.

The queen later said Oyo’s son, who was in the US state of Texas, had been due to return home but that could not happen amid a “tense and polarised succession dispute”.

“No child should be placed in circumstances where returning to his father’s homeland could mean being drawn into hostility and conflict,” Kemigisa asserted in a post on X.

But according to the Tooro kingdom’s information minister, the son being talked about “hasn’t been presented anywhere, which means there is a growing acceptance that sad as it may be, King Oyo didn’t leave a son behind”.

While King Oyo inherited the crown from his father, Mwanguhya told the BBC “the crown has moved to a different line within the ruling clan”.

A king must come from the Babiito clan, specifically the lineage of King George David Matthew Kamurasi Rukidi III, according to royal palace sources.

Kijanangoma and the late King Oyo are cousins. Both are grandsons of Rukidi III, the 11th king, or Omukama, who ruled the Tooro kingdom from 1928 to 1965.

Kijanangoma was among several people who were considered for the role, including Prince George Desmond Kamurasi, who plays football for one of the UK’s best-known amateur clubs.

According to the succession committee, the South East Dons captain and goalkeeper declined the offer of the throne, citing other responsibilities.

After he was formally announced, Kijanangoma promised that the palace would be open to the people and vowed to focus on unity and development.

“I ask you for one thing – they have given me this title as king but I cannot work alone, I have to work with you,” he said.

President Museveni (left), who restored the traditional kingdoms in the 1990s, was pictured with Tooro’s King Oyo (right) in 2010

Uganda’s traditional kings have no formal political authority, but they retain cultural influence and command significant loyalty in the communities they lead.

The country is home to four main kingdoms, the largest and most prominent being Buganda in the central region, which encompasses the capital Kampala.

The kingdoms were abolished in 1967, but the government under President Yoweri Museveni restored them in the early 1990s.

The government said this was to promote cultural pride and national unity, but the move has also been interpreted as a way of appeasing communities and fostering political loyalty.

Amid the succession dispute, the government backed the Babiito clan’s choice of Kijanangoma. Attorney General Sam Mayanja said the Tooro kingdom was cleared to go ahead with the coronation, as there had not been a formal complaint against him.

The date of the coronation was announced by the government and Museveni is scheduled to attend.

The president’s son and the head of the military, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has also publicly supported Kijanangoma. “Long may he reign,” he posted on X.

Kijanangoma’s very name points to his royal heritage.

His father, the first Kijanangoma, was born in the year King Rukidi III became king. The king gave him the name, which means the “one who comes with the royal drum”.

The drum of royalty, foretold two generations earlier, is now returning to its bearer.

Kijanangoma was born in 1970 and raised at their family home at Kidukuru village in Fort Portal, about 300 km (186 miles) from Kampala.

He left the village to pursue further studies and graduated with a mass communication degree from Uganda’s prestigious Makerere University in 1999.

He worked as a broadcaster in a career spanning more than two decades, including in neighbouring Rwanda and at home, with the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation.

The years spent engaging with the public, the interactions with leaders and the exposure to national affairs in his work as a journalist may yet serve him well as he returns to the community he came from, this time as their leader.

After he was named king, Kijanangoma said he would use the connections he had built up over 21 years working as a journalist “to get good things for our people”.

His mother, Assimwe Yusta Kijanangoma, is confident that he is well prepared for his new role. She says his upbringing was deeply rooted in tradition.

“I really raised him with the teachings of the old kingdom of a cane and instructions and scolding. I laugh with him, and other times I scold him,” she told the BBC.

She added: “Eddy is well-mannered, he does not fight, or shout, even when wronged, he says a few words and does not go so much into it.”

She feels good for her son, although she admits to having mixed emotions, especially as her son is taking over after the death of a “great man”.