Secret son revelation ignites bitter succession dispute in Ugandan kingdom

A traditional Ugandan kingdom has become engulfed in a bitter succession dispute after the family of a king who recently died rejected the selection of a television news anchor as his successor.King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, who became the world’s youngest reigning monarch when he took the throne in the kingdom of Tooro in 1995 at the age of three, died on 27 August in the US, where he was receiving cancer treatment.King Oyo Nyimba, aged 13, sits between his mother Best Kemigisha and an unidentified adviser during celebrations marking his first decade in power in Fort Portal, Uganda. Photograph: ReutersOn Wednesday, the royal clan’s succession committee announced it had chosen Oyo’s cousin Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma, a news anchor and editor at the public broadcaster UBC, as crown prince.However, at a press conference held later the same day, Oyo’s sister, Princess Ruth Nsemere Komuntale, said that according to her brother’s will, a son whose existence had not been publicly known until his death should succeed him.Princess Ruth Komuntale waiting to receive the body of her brother, the late King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, at Entebbe International airport last week. Photograph: Hajarah Nalwadda/Getty ImagesThe kingdom’s ‌spokesperson shared a section of the document, which says: “I hereby declare and direct that if, at the date of my death, I am survived by a son lawfully recognised as my biological son, I appoint him as my heir to the throne of the kingdom of Tooro.”In a statement on Thursday, Oyo’s mother, Queen Mother Best Kemigisa Akiiki, denounced a “self-appointed group of clan members” who had selected a new king despite having had the will read to them hours earlier.She also claimed that the royal family had been put under house arrest. Troops had “removed the royal guards without notice, and ... were deployed around the palace,” she said. “We cannot leave or receive people freely.”A portrait of the late king on the red carpet at Entebbe International airport. Photograph: Hajarah Nalwadda/Getty ImagesOyo was unmarried and was not known to have any children. The Tooro kingdom’s prime minister, Calvin Armstrong Rwomiire Akiiki, revealed the existence of a son in a social media post on 27 August when announcing Oyo’s death.“His majesty leaves behind a prince as his heir, whose identity will be formally revealed at the appropriate time, in accordance with the traditions and customs of Tooro kingdom,” he said.Another contender had been Prince George Desmond-Kamurasi, who plays for the London amateur football club South East Dons. According to the committee, the goalkeeper had declined the offer of the throne because of his other responsibilities.The Tooro king is selected by a succession committee appointed by the royal clan. A committee member told the local NTV station that a royal child must be officially introduced to elders in order to be considered for leadership.Queen Mother Best Kemigisa Akiiki waiting to receive the body of her son at Entebbe International airport. Photograph: Hajarah Nalwadda/Getty ImagesAndrew Mwenda, ⁠a prominent Ugandan journalist and relative of the royal family, wrote on X on Thursday that Oyo’s ​family had not been able to produce a photo ​of the purported son, and declined to disclose ​details about the family of the boy’s mother. He added that, in Tooro, a king’s son could only succeed ​him if he were born to ‌a queen officially married ​to the king.The prime minister ​called for restraint on Thursday. “There will be time to examine the will, to hear those advancing a different position, and to consider our customs, the applicable law and the proper institutions through which succession should be determined,” he said in a social media post.“That process should take place calmly and credibly, not through competing announcements, confrontation, or attempts to establish facts on the ground while our king still awaits burial.”Uganda’s president, Yoweri Museveni, lays a wreath on the casket of the king at Entebbe International airport. Photograph: Hajarah Nalwadda/Getty ImagesEdward, a popular TV news presenter, is the son of Prince Christopher Paul Kijanangoma and a grandson of the former king George David Rukidi III.Oyo, who was crowned after his father’s death, will be buried on Saturday at the Karambi royal tombs in the kingdom’s capital of Fort Portal in western Uganda.Uganda has several ancient kingdoms that lack formal sovereignty, but whose leaders are revered as symbols of tradition and wield vast social influence. Tooro is one of five that are recognised by the government. Their monarchs have no political authority and are legally barred from engaging in partisan politics.In 1967 Uganda’s then president, Milton Obote, abolished the kingdoms, saying he wanted to unify the country. They were restored by the current president, Yoweri Museveni, in 1993.The casket of the late king arrives at Entebbe International airport. Photograph: Hajarah Nalwadda/Getty ImagesThe Tooro are the latest African royal family to become mired in a succession dispute. King Misuzulu Sinqobile kaZwelithini, the reigning king of the Zulu people in South Africa, waited 15 months for his coronation after the death of his father because of a bitter feud involving accusations of forgery and poisoning.Reuters and the Associated Press contributed reporting