King Oyo returns home: Here’s the full nine-day funeral programme

The body of Tooro King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV will arrive in Uganda on Friday, September 4, 2026, marking the start of nine days of funeral rites.

Mary Kamuli Kuteesa, the Minister of State for Gender and Culture and Mwenge County South MP, announced the programme on Thursday.

• The body will arrive at Entebbe International Airport at 10 a.m.

• President Yoweri Museveni will receive it and pay his respects.

• Queen Mother Best Kemigisa Akiiki will lead the Royal Family.

• Tooro Prime Minister Calvin Armstrong Rwomiire Akiiki and other kingdom officials will attend.

Kuteesa asked Ugandans, journalists and bloggers to respect the Queen Mother’s grief.

“The pain she is going through is not a tenth of what we all feel. She has not just lost a King and a friend; she has lost her son,” Kuteesa said.

• The government will airlift the body from Entebbe to Kyegegwa Airstrip.

• There will be no ceremony at the airstrip.

• Officials will transfer the casket to a hearse for the journey to Fort Portal.

• The hearse will travel from Kyegegwa to Karuziika Palace.

• The government has allowed mourners to gather along the route.

• The procession will not stop.

• The hearse will slow down when passing through towns.

• Police and the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces will manage the procession.

The body is expected to arrive at Karuziika Palace by Friday evening.

Omusuuga Charles Kamurasi Akiiki and Tooro clan leaders will lead the cultural reception.

• The casket will lie in state at Karuziika Palace.

• Members of the public may visit the palace and pay their respects.

• The kingdom will hold prayers every evening.

• Mourners may also gather along the procession route.

• Subjects from Tooro’s nine districts and its counties, known as Masaza, will visit the palace on their designated days.

King Oyo will be buried on September 12. The date would have marked his 31st coronation anniversary.

The programme will run as follows:

8 a.m.: All ordinary mourners must be seated at St John’s Cathedral.

After 8 a.m.: Only VIPs will be allowed to take their seats.

9 a.m.: The final church service will begin.

Noon: The church service will end.

After noon: The funeral procession will leave the cathedral for the Karambi Royal Tombs.

1 p.m.–2 p.m.: Burial rituals will take place.

During the burial: The Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces will fire a gun salute.

Mourners will escort the body on foot from St John’s Cathedral to the Karambi Royal Tombs, known as Amagasani.

Kuteesa said Tooro’s customs do not allow kings to be buried in the evening.

King Oyo died in the United States on August 27, 2026, aged 34. His burial will end a reign of almost 31 years that began when he ascended the throne at the age of three.