Uganda’s Tooro Kingdom prepared on Saturday to bury its late king, Oyo Nyimba, long the world’s youngest monarch, following days of a bitter succession battle within the royal family.
Royal guards clad in orange tunics and beating wooden sticks led the hearse carrying Oyo’s casket in a solemn procession through the streets of the kingdom’s capital, Fort Portal.
King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV made global headlines in 1995 when he took the throne at age 3. Images of the toddler king donning a crown and royal robes sparked curiosity and adoration around the world.
He died last month at 34 in the United States, where he was receiving treatment for cancer.
His casket, draped in the blue-and-yellow Tooro flag, was driven from the royal palace to St. John’s Cathedral in the western city of Fort Portal for a ceremony before hundreds of mourners, including senior Ugandan government officials.
Uganda is led by an elected head of state but retains several kingdoms that pre-date the British colonial era and are seen as bulwarks of traditional identity and heritage.
SUCCESSION BATTLE THREATENED TO DELAY BURIAL
After the cathedral service, Oyo will be buried at the site of the royal tombs. The Omusuna, the traditional chief priest charged with burying Tooro’s monarchs, will guide the incoming king in the custom of casting nine coffee berries into the grave.
Whether the new king would be in place to perform that mandatory rite had been in doubt until late on Friday.
A committee consisting of members of the royal clan announced on Wednesday it had chosen Oyo’s cousin, Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma, a news anchor and editor at state broadcaster UBC, as king.
But Oyo’s immediate family said his hitherto unknown son should succeed him, as called for in the late king’s will. Oyo never married and was not known to have any children until the kingdom’s prime minister said he had a son in the August 27 statement announcing his death.
Supporters of Kijanangoma’s succession say Oyo’s family has not been able to produce basic information about the purported son.
A source with knowledge of crisis talks over the matter said Ugandan authorities had successfully pushed through Kijanangoma’s succession on Friday.
A government spokesperson could not be reached for comment. The Ugandan military said it had beefed up security in the area to prevent any trouble.
LATE KING WAS CHAMPION OF FIGHT AGAINST HIV, FRIEND OF GADDAFI
Oyo himself took the throne after a protracted succession battle that finished in court.
He went on to become a U.N. goodwill ambassador who championed the fight against HIV and AIDS. He also cultivated close ties with former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, whom he named a special adviser to the monarch. Gaddafi donated money towards refurbishment of the royal palace.
“We are sending a revered and loved leader, an icon and we want to make sure the moment, the spectacle and rituals fit his stature,” Vincent Mugume, the kingdom’s spokesperson, told Reuters.
The 56-year-old Kijanangoma, who maintained a lower profile as the succession battle played out, has been praised by those who know him for his humility.
“Someone you don’t get to find in scandals, someone that is so quiet,” Mary Tumwikirize, a colleague of Kijanangoma’s at UBC, said in a television interview. “It took me a very long time to actually know that he was a prince.”
Besides the throne, the new king will inherit a considerable royal estate including swathes of land and sizeable cash payouts from the central government.
Reporting by Elias Biryabarema. Editing bny Aaron Ross, Alex Richardson and Mark Potter
Source: reuters.com