Tooro Musuuga Charles Kamurasi faces revolt from own son

Prince Patrick Mpuuga, son of Prince Charles Kayondo Kamurasi, the Omusuuga and head of the Babiito royal clan, has rejected his father’s role in announcing Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma as the new King of Tooro.

Mpuuga, siding Princesses Ruth Komuntale and Elizabeth Bagaya, said the late King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV left a will that should guide the succession process.

He argued at a press conference on Thursday that the document overrides earlier succession arrangements relied on by the clan.

The Babiito clan selected Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma after Prince George Desmond Kamurasi, who had initially emerged as the preferred candidate, reportedly declined the throne. 

The clan said it relied on traditional succession arrangements and provisions in the will of former King George David Rukidi Kamurasi III. 

However, King Oyo’s family has challenged that position, saying the late monarch’s own will, signed in 2022, named his son as the first heir to the Tooro throne. The document also provided alternative successors if the son was unable to assume the crown. 

Mpuuga said the late king’s wishes should take priority over previous royal documents.

“It is very clear that the King’s will supersedes any will that existed in the past. Therefore those people who are invoking the will of our grandfather whom I speak of with all due respect, no longer stands because His Majesty Agutamba Oyo Nyimba Amooti left his own will which is very clear,” Mpuuga said.

Meanwhile, Mpuuga appeared to lay claim on his father’s position as the Prince Regent of Tooro, claiming that the late King Oyo appointed him to replace his father.

“Also in my conversation with his Majesty, he asked me to take on that mantle of Musuuga. This might not have seen the light of day as he wished but that conversation I had with him although it did not materialise,” he said.

Mpuuga said the late king had wanted younger members of the royal family to take a bigger role in preserving Tooro’s culture and passing knowledge to future generations.

“That process was already on because we all understand that we are of the same generation and for the continuity of our culture and the knowledge to continue… that this should not stop with the parents alone but passed down to children… that was the idea behind that effort,” he said.

“Unfortunately it has not seen the light of day, but I also stand here as a Mubiito to stand and say that with the will of the king that it must prevail,” he added.

Mpuuga also called on security agencies to intervene, saying the family was seeking a peaceful resolution rather than conflict.

“We call upon the enforcement agencies out there that they need to take this on. It is not that we want war or mayhem; we want peace. We are not trying to plant seeds of discord,” he said.