Queen Mother Best Kemigisa grieving over her late son, King Oyo
HABARI DAILY I Kampala, Uganda I Queen Mother Best Kemigisa has accused the army of effectively placing the Tooro royal family under “house arrest”, as a bitter succession dispute continues to overshadow preparations for the burial of her son, the late King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV.
In an emotional statement issued on September 10, just two days before Oyo’s scheduled burial, Kemigisa appealed to President Yoweri Museveni, Maj Gen Kayanja Muhanga and the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) leadership to allow the royal family to mourn and bury the late monarch in peace.
Her intervention adds a new and potentially explosive dimension to a dispute that began when members of the Babiito royal clan announced Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma as Oyo’s successor while the late king’s body was still awaiting burial.
‘We are under house arrest’
Kemigisa said the situation at Karuziika Palace had become unbearable for a family still struggling with the death of Oyo, who died in the United States on August 27 after undergoing cancer treatment.
She alleged that Maj Gen Muhanga ordered the removal of the traditional royal guards from the palace without prior notice and replaced them with heavily armed UPDF personnel.
Karuziika palace, where King Oyo’s body is lying in state, after the facelift
According to the Queen Mother, the deployment has severely restricted the royal family’s movement and ability to receive people coming to pay their respects to the late king.
She described the situation as effectively placing the family under house arrest and appealed to the military leadership to reconsider the restrictions.
Her appeal was directed specifically at Muhanga, the UPDF leadership and Museveni, whom she wants to intervene before the dispute causes further divisions within the kingdom.
Succession dispute interrupts mourning
Kemigisa said what has hurt the family most is that the succession contest has erupted before Oyo has been laid to rest.
The Queen Mother and Princess Ruth Komuntale have maintained that Oyo left a written will naming his young son as heir to the Tooro throne.
Princess Komuntale
Kemigisa said the will was read at about 4pm in the presence of members of the royal family and government representatives, including Komuntale, Princess Margaret Komubaizi, Monsignor Father Mayombo and Maj Gen Henry Tumukunde, who represented the President.
She said the reading established an order of succession and that the parties agreed to meet again under Tumukunde’s chairmanship.
But, according to Kemigisa, members of the Babiito later held a press conference and announced Kijanangoma as the new king despite the discussions surrounding the will.
“That is what has hurt us most. My daughter is devastated. Our family is grieving,” she said.
The competing claims have placed Oyo’s will, the reported existence of his son and the traditional authority of the Babiito clan at the centre of the succession controversy.
A mother who has faced succession battles before
For Kemigisa, the current dispute is also a painful reminder of another succession struggle that followed the death of her husband, Omukama Patrick Matthew Kaboyo Olimi III.
She recalled that she was only 26 when her husband died and was in the United Kingdom receiving treatment for their young daughter Cecilia.
She returned to Uganda to bury her husband but immediately found herself fighting for the right of her two-year-old son, Oyo, to succeed his father.
Some Babiito members, she recalled, argued that Oyo was too young to become king and claimed that his father had not left a will naming him as successor.
The disagreement eventually went to court, with Oyo ultimately becoming Omukama. Kemigisa said she later suffered another devastating loss when her daughter died of leukemia.
She expressed disappointment that some of the clan leaders involved in the current dispute did not support the family during those earlier periods of bereavement.
Kemigisa praises Museveni and UPDF
Despite her criticism of the current security deployment, Kemigisa acknowledged the support she said Museveni and the UPDF had provided following Oyo’s death.
She credited the President with helping ensure that her son’s remains were returned to Tooro with the dignity befitting a king.
She also thanked the UPDF engineering brigade and the Chief of Defence Forces for supporting preparations at the royal burial grounds.
Her appeal therefore appears directed less at the state’s involvement in the funeral and more at what she sees as an inappropriate military presence at the palace during the mourning period.
‘Let us grieve and bury my son’
Kemigisa urged those competing for the throne to temporarily suspend their differences and allow Oyo’s funeral to proceed peacefully.
“I also appeal to those fighting over the throne: please, there will be time for all of that. Let us grieve and bury my son King Oyo,” she said.
She described Oyo as a good son and king who loved Tooro and served its people for 31 years.
“Most importantly, he served God. He has gone to be with the Lord. Please allow us to send him home with the dignity and respect he deserves,” she said.
