King Oyo’s true son should have attended his funeral, Babiito respond to Sam Mayanja

The Babiito royal clan of Tooro have responded to Attorney General Sam Mayanja, insisting that unanswered questions remain about the existence and readiness of King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV’s purported son.

The clan leaders argue that a child expected to inherit the Tooro throne should have been seen by now or at least attended his father’s funeral.

These were yesterday responding to Attorney General Dr Sam Mayanja’s legal opinion to President Yoweri Museveni that King Oyo’s will should guide the succession and that the dispute should move to court if the elders cannot resolve it.

Fr Charles Oyo, spokesperson of both the 21-member succession committee and the Babiito clan, said the elders were not troubled by Mayanja’s opinion because it was requested by the President and addressed to him.

“If the AG advised the President, how are we involved? We are not the ones that asked for his opinion,” Oyo said.

“It was the President who requested the legal opinion and who knows what he will do with it. The opinion was never meant for us. We also saw it in the news.”

The succession committee selected Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma as King Oyo’s successor after its first choice, Prince George Desmond Kamurasi, declined the throne.

However, members of King Oyo’s immediate family have challenged that process. They maintain that the late monarch left a will providing for his biological son to inherit the throne.

In his September 12, 2026 opinion, Mayanja advised that King Oyo’s will should be followed unless successfully challenged in court.

The will states that if King Oyo died leaving a lawfully recognised biological son, that son would become his heir in accordance with Tooro customs and the law.

Mayanja also said the Babiito elders’ decision could not settle the succession if interested parties remained dissatisfied.

He said a court could order King Oyo’s purported son to be produced so that his claim could be examined.

But Fr Oyo said the Babiito have searched for the purported heir since King Oyo’s death without seeing him.

“The fact remains that we have looked for the late king’s purported son since his death, and we are yet to find him,” he said.

“We have not seen his birth certificate; we know nothing about his mother, her name or where she stays.”

Oyo said the clan initially expected King Oyo’s will to identify the child.

“When we asked to see the child, they said we should wait for the will. When it came out, it never identified the son,” he said.

He also questioned why the purported heir did not attend King Oyo’s funeral at St John’s Cathedral or the Karambi Royal Tombs.

“We were also surprised that this son did not show up at his father’s funeral,” Oyo said.

“If you die and leave behind a child, and this child is not even able to attend your funeral, how can he be expected to inherit you? That is very interesting.”

He added: “How can a child that cannot attend his father’s burial have the courage to take over his throne?”

Mayanja’s legal opinion has complicated the Babiito committee’s attempt to install Kijanangoma.

The Attorney General stopped the customary ceremony in which a successor throws nine coffee beans into the deceased king’s grave. He said the ritual would imply that a new king had been affirmed despite the unresolved dispute.

Mayanja has also said the government will not gazette Kijanangoma as King of Tooro until the succession question is settled.

He said that once the dispute is resolved, the Gender ministry can initiate the process for government recognition and the benefits accorded to recognised traditional leaders.

Kijanangoma has nevertheless addressed supporters as king and outlined an agenda centred on unity, education, scholarships and partnerships.