The succession dispute in Tooro has deepened after Princess Ruth Nsemere Komuntale publicly rejected the selection of Prince Desmond Kijanangoma as the kingdom’s next monarch.
Kijanangoma was on Wednesday announced as the king-elect to succeed the late Omukama Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, who is due to be buried this Saturday.
Komuntale, however, has challenged the decision, insisting that Oyo left a will in which he named his preferred successor as his son and a second choice in the event that the first was unable to take the throne.
According to Komuntale, Kijanangoma is not among the two successors identified by Oyo, arguing that the Babiito royal clan elders erred by bypassing Oyo’s lineage in selecting him.
The dispute comes amid the circulation of a purported will attributed to the late Tooro King George David Kamurasi Rukidi III, although its authenticity has not been independently verified.
In the document, Kamurasi, who died in 1965, reportedly identified four of his 14 sons as possible successors to the Tooro throne.
The purported will names Patrick David Matthew Kaboyo as his preferred successor. Kaboyo later became Omukama and was the father of the late King Oyo. Kaboyo died in 1995, after which Oyo ascended the throne at the age of three.
The document further states that if Kaboyo died without producing an heir or became mentally incapacitated, Christophe Paul Kijanangoma would become the next king. Christopher is the father of Desmond Kijanangoma, the current king-elect.
It further provides that if Kijanangoma died without producing an heir or became mentally incapacitated, Stephen Edgar Paul Karamagi would become king.
Komuntale’s argument is that the Babiito elders should have followed the line of succession through Kaboyo and his son Oyo instead of moving to the alternative candidate named in the purported will.
The dispute is further complicated by claims that Oyo himself left behind a son who could have a claim to the throne.
Following Oyo’s death in the United States on August 27, President Museveni said he had been informed by the Queen Mother, Best Kemigisa, that the late king had left behind a young son and heir.
The claim subsequently triggered calls within the Babiito clan for the alleged heir to be formally presented for verification before the succession process could proceed.
The head of the Babiito royal clan, Omusuuga Charles Kamurasi, had earlier called for the alleged heir to be presented to the clan, saying the succession process had to be guided by established Tooro cultural practices.
The latest rejection by Komuntale therefore adds a new dimension to an already delicate succession process, with the kingdom preparing to bury Oyo while questions remain over who should occupy the Tooro throne.
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