New Tooro king will do better than Oyo in uniting royal family, says Margaret Muhanga

State Minister for Lands Margaret Muhanga has backed Tooro King-designate Edward Rukidi Nyabongo I to reunite the royal family, saying divisions widened during the reign of the late King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV.

Muhanga, a cousin of King Oyo, said several descendants of former Tooro kings had started returning to Karuziika Royal Palace following the change in leadership.

Her late mother was a sister to Oyo’s father, King Patrick David Matthew Kaboyo Olimi III. Muhanga is also a sister to journalist Andrew Mwenda, a vocal critic of King Oyo’s reign and Queen Mother Best Kemigisa.

Muhanga said unlike the 31 year reign of King Oyo, past royal households had accommodated kings’ wives, their children and members of the wider royal family despite the complexities of polygamous marriages.

“I want to show you that in the past there were kings’ wives such as Damali and Kezia. When you read Tooro’s history, you will learn that these women were in polygamous marriages, but they were still able to look after the other children of the kings, their co-wives in the palace and the rest of the people of Tooro,” she said.

Yet during Oyo’s reign, she claimed, Karuziika Palace became controlled by a small circle and stopped welcoming the children and grandchildren of former kings.

“The palace had reverted to just one group of people. It was no longer welcoming the children of former kings and their grandchildren,” Muhanga said.

She added that children of Prince Christopher Paul Kijanangoma and other members of the royal family had now returned.

“Today, when you go to the palace, you will see that some of these children of former kings have started to return. Some of the children I grew up with, the children of Kijanangoma, many of whom had fled from the palace, have come back to their grandfather’s palace,” she said.

Muhanga acknowledged that King Oyo loved Tooro but that he remained isolated from his paternal relatives throughout his reign.

“I know that King Oyo had a lot of love, but the problem was that he was secluded from his father’s family for all the time he was king,” she said.

She also accused the former kingdom administration of commercialising the institution and damaging its reputation through controversial land transactions.

Muhanga said she had spoken to the king-designate and believed he would restore unity within the kingdom.

“This is now the time for Tooro to come together. I am confident that the new king, whom I have spoken with, is going to bring that unity and bring the people together,” she said.

Edward Rukidi Nyabongo I is expected to be crowned at Karuziika Royal Palace in Fort Portal City on September 29, 2026. He succeeds King Oyo, who died in the United States on August 27, 2026.