A king is dead; thousands of mourners are already in Fort Portal in white tunics and bark cloth, but there can be no burial until a new king is found.

This is the crisis gripping the Tooro Kingdom right now, reports cbinews.tv.

King Oyo Nyimba, who famously became the world’s youngest monarch when he was crowned in 1995 at just three, has died aged 34. The charismatic king, a UN goodwill ambassador known for his HIV campaigning, was due to be laid to rest on Saturday in a huge state funeral.

But that funeral cannot happen. Not until his successor is named.

On Wednesday, a royal clan succession committee announced their choice: Oyo’s cousin, Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma, a news anchor and editor at state broadcaster UBC.

The decision exploded. Oyo’s mother, Queen Mother Best Kemigisa, and his sister Princess Ruth Komuntale rejected it outright. At a tense press conference, they said Oyo’s will is clear. His hitherto unknown son should take the throne.

According to cbinews.tv sources, the Queen Mother has called the committee a self-appointed group that ignored the will even after it was read to them.

The twist? King Oyo never married and was never publicly known to have children. Prominent journalist Andrew Mwenda, who is related to the family, posted on X that the family has so far not produced a photo of the boy or details of his mother. He also noted that under Tooro custom, a son can only succeed if born to an officially married queen.

Kijanangoma himself is described by colleagues as humble and down to earth, a prince who never acted like one.

This is far more than palace gossip. As cbinews.tv explains, Uganda is a constitutional republic, but its four ancient kingdoms, Tooro, Buganda, Bunyoro and Busoga, are powerful cultural institutions. They command fierce loyalty and wield huge influence.

The throne also comes with serious stakes, a vast royal estate, large tracts of land and substantial annual funding and gifts from the central government in Kampala.

Tooro was founded in 1830 when it broke away from Bunyoro. Its monarchy was abolished under Milton Obote in 1967 and only restored in 1993, which is why Oyo, born in 1992, was crowned as a toddler and grew up in the public eye. Many Ugandans literally watched him grow from a child king into a modernising monarch.

Now that emotional bond is colliding with tradition. The kingdom’s spokesperson Vincent Mugume told cbinews.tv that talks are ongoing between the immediate royal family and the wider clan, with central government mediating. He said Tooro must have a new king by burial day to perform sacred rituals reserved only for the successor.

A source close to the talks told reporters that government officials are putting pressure on Queen Kemigisa to accept the clan’s decision.

In Tooro custom, a king never truly dies; he joins his ancestors, and only his successor can perform the final burial rites. Without a new Omukama, the spiritual transition is incomplete.

All eyes are on Fort Portal. If a compromise is reached, Kijanangoma or the late king’s son could be enthroned in a swift coronation before the burial on Saturday.

If talks collapse, the kingdom faces an unprecedented constitutional and cultural deadlock that could delay the funeral and force intervention from President Museveni’s government.

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