Tooro King Coronation Faces Last-Minute Court Challenge

Official Portrait of King Edward Rukidi Nyabongo I of Tooro Kingdom

The planned Tooro king coronation of Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma, who is set to take the royal name Edward Rukidi Nyabongo I, has been thrown into fresh uncertainty after a last-minute petition was filed in the Fort Portal High Court seeking to halt Tuesday’s installation ceremony.

The application, filed on Monday, September 28, comes just hours before the scheduled coronation at Karuziika Palace in Fort Portal and challenges the legitimacy of the process through which Kijanangoma was selected to succeed the late King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV.

According to court documents cited by Daily Monitor, two applicants, Derick Alitugabira and Juliet Kangume, together with Walezi Wa Katiba, an organisation focused on the rule of law and good governance, are seeking an interim order stopping the coronation while the substantive dispute is considered by the court.

The applicants argue that the selection of Kijanangoma contradicts what they say were the explicit wishes of the late King Oyo. They claim Oyo left a written Will providing for his son to succeed him and, in the event that the son could not take the throne, naming a cousin as an alternative.

Queen Mother Best Kemigisa of Tooro Kingdom, as the succession crisis deepens and the late King Oyo’s heir remains disputed.

The petition also seeks the involvement of Queen Mother Best Kemigisha, whom the applicants say had previously stated that Oyo left behind a son. They want the court to compel her to produce the alleged heir.

The development reopens one of the central questions that has surrounded the Tooro succession since Oyo’s death on August 27: whether the late king’s reported wishes should determine the succession, or whether the recognised traditional institutions of the Babiito clan have the authority to select his successor.

The dispute has already been examined in FTN’s earlier story, “Museveni and the Tooro Succession: Is Kijanangoma Really King Yet?”, which raised questions about President Yoweri Museveni’s remarks during Oyo’s burial.

At the time, Museveni referred to the issue of the new King of the Batooro needing to be “solved”, despite Kijanangoma having already been selected by the Babiito royal clan and subsequently endorsed by the Tooro Kingdom Supreme Council.

Since then, the kingdom has moved forward with preparations for the Tooro king coronation.

The Babiito royal clan selected Kijanangoma on September 9, after which the Tooro Supreme Council endorsed him on September 15. The government later said the succession process had been completed in accordance with the recognised traditional institutions and customs of Tooro.

The Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development subsequently announced that the coronation would take place on September 29 at Karuziika Palace, with President Museveni confirmed to attend.

The official government position therefore stands in sharp contrast to the legal challenge now before the High Court.

The timing of the petition is particularly significant because preparations for the ceremony have already entered their final stage. The published programme provides for traditional rites beginning on the night of September 28, followed by the formal coronation on September 29.

But the latest court filing means that the question of whether those proceedings can go ahead is no longer purely a matter for the kingdom’s traditional institutions.

The legal dispute is also inseparable from the events surrounding King Oyo’s burial.

Before his September 12 burial at the Karambi Royal Tombs, the succession dispute had already become intertwined with disagreements within the royal family.

The burial itself was briefly disrupted amid allegations that Queen Mother Best Kemigisha was prevented from completing the ceremony and that the king’s casket was forcibly removed. FTN previously reported those disputed events in “King Oyo Burial Briefly Blocked as Queen Mother Best Kemigisha Reportedly Locked in Car.”

The burial eventually went ahead, with Kijanangoma participating in a traditional ritual at the royal tombs. Reuters reported that he cast nine coffee berries into the grave, a ritual associated with the transfer of authority.

That moment added another layer to an already complicated succession process.

Journalist and political commentator Andrew Mwenda gesturing during a television appearance, known for his outspoken views on Uganda’s political and cultural affairs, including the Tooro Kingdom succession.

For the Babiito establishment, Kijanangoma’s selection followed the traditional succession process. For members of Oyo’s immediate family who have challenged the process, however, the existence of a reported son and an alleged Will remains central to the question of who should inherit the throne.

FTN previously examined Kijanangoma’s background in “Tooro’s New King: Who Is Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma?”, tracing the career of the former UBC news anchor and royal family member who emerged from the succession process as the kingdom’s new king-designate.

The latest court challenge now places that selection under a legal spotlight.

It also comes after the Attorney General had earlier cleared the kingdom to continue preparations for the coronation, saying there was no formal appeal registered in court at that time.

The new application changes that position by putting the succession directly before the High Court.

The applicants are asking for an interim order preventing Kijanangoma’s coronation or installation until the substantive dispute over his selection is determined. As of Monday, the court had not yet convened to rule on the emergency application, leaving the status of Tuesday’s ceremony uncertain.

The dispute is therefore no longer simply about who was selected by the Babiito clan. It now touches three overlapping questions: what Tooro’s customary succession process requires, what the late King Oyo is alleged to have provided for in his Will, and what role the courts can play when those positions collide.

FTN has previously examined this broader dispute in “Tooro Kingdom Succession Crisis Deepens as Oyo’s Heir and Kijanangoma Face Legal Test.”

The story also has a deeper historical layer.

Since Oyo’s death, discussions around the Tooro crown have repeatedly brought back the ancient legend of Princess Nyinamwiru, a story of prophecy, succession, betrayal and the struggle for royal power. The legend has no established evidentiary connection to the circumstances of Oyo’s death or the present succession dispute, but it continues to appear in public discussions about the symbolism and history surrounding the Tooro throne.

FTN explored that dimension in “King Oyo’s Death: The Dark Tale of Tooro’s Ancient Crown.”, examining how the centuries-old Nyinamwiru story has resurfaced alongside questions about the future of the monarchy.

A senior Tooro royal elder in full ceremonial regalia as questions mount over whether Prince Edward Kijanangoma has truly secured the throne — and what role President Museveni’s government may still play in the disputed succession.

The current dispute, however, is no longer only historical or symbolic.

By Monday evening, preparations for the Tooro king coronation were continuing, with Kijanangoma already presented by the kingdom as the incoming monarch. The government has publicly backed the completion of the traditional succession process, and President Museveni is expected to attend the ceremony.

At the same time, a court application is asking the judiciary to stop the installation before it happens.

That leaves Tooro facing a dramatic final question on the eve of the ceremony: will Edward Rukidi Nyabongo I proceed to the throne as planned, or will the courts intervene before the crown formally changes hands?

For a kingdom that has spent weeks trying to settle the succession following the death of King Oyo, the answer may now come from a courtroom in Fort Portal.