'We were kept in the dark about King Oyo’s health, US trip' – Tooro princes speak out

Members of Tooro’s ruling Babiito clan have accused kingdom officials of withholding information about King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV’s health before his death.

Prince Kasagama, one of the members of the royal family, said they did not receive clear information about the King’s trip to the United States or his condition.

He made the comments during an interview with Voice of Tooro FM on Friday morning.

“What we heard as the royal family was that His Majesty left the country and went to the US together with the Queen Mother. We were not initially informed of the trip,” Kasagama said.

He said the King’s death shocked the royal family and the wider Tooro community.

Kasagama said he called people in the United States at about 4pm on Thursday to seek information about the monarch.

“The people who I spoke to were crying. They said he was very weak,” he said.

Kasagama questioned why kingdom officials had told the public that King Oyo travelled abroad for business and studies, only to announce that he was critically ill and later dead.

“This is going to puzzle a lot of people of Tooro because it was only recently when we were at the Cathedral and the Omuhikirwa, Prime Minister Calvin Armstrong Rwomiire Akiiki, announced that His Majesty had travelled abroad for business and studies,” he said.

“Now we are wondering, how did someone who went for business and studies get announced to be in critical condition and later dead?”

Kasagama said Chief Prince Charles Kamurasi, the Omusuga, had written to kingdom officials asking them to inform the people of Tooro about the King’s whereabouts.

He accused Rwomiire of failing to provide the requested information.

“The Prime Minister instead held a meeting in which he responded that he was not the one responsible for communicating the whereabouts of the King and that it was, in fact, the royal family that should be privy to this information,” Kasagama said.

“The Prime Minister, therefore, was not truthful and forthcoming. We shall have to wait for the hospital report about what happened. But that secrecy was not helpful.”

Kasagama also said the King’s death outside Tooro prevented the Kateerampamo from performing his traditional responsibility of announcing the monarch’s death.

“It is unfortunate that yesterday, the Kateerampamo, whose role it is to announce the death of the King, was not able to carry out his duty because the King was in the US, where he passed,” he said.

The claims add to questions surrounding the handling of information about King Oyo’s health.

On August 3, Tooro Kingdom dismissed reports that the King was critically ill. It said he was in good health and abroad for official engagements and further studies.

The kingdom changed its position on Thursday evening and announced that he was in critical condition. Hours later, Rwomiire confirmed that the King had died at about 10pm.

King Oyo died aged 34 after ruling Tooro for nearly 31 years.