FORT PORTAL, Uganda: The Tooro Kingdom Supreme Council has unanimously endorsed Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma as the selected successor to the late King Oyo. The vote adds institutional support to the Babiito royal clan’s choice, but it does not end the succession dispute or amount to formal recognition by Uganda’s central government.
Is Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma officially Tooro’s new king? Tooro’s Supreme Council has endorsed the Babiito succession committee’s choice of Edward Rukidi Nyabongo I and asked the clan to prepare for coronation. Uganda’s government has not gazetted him, and members of King Oyo’s immediate family still cite a reported will and son.
What the Supreme Council decided
The council met at the Rukurato chambers in Muchwa, Fort Portal, on Tuesday. Speaker Julius Mwirumubi chaired the sitting, where members received a formal communication from Babiito clan head Charles Kamurasi about the succession committee’s choice.
Monitor reported that the council unanimously supported Prince Edward, who is being presented by his supporters under the royal name Edward Rukidi Nyabongo I. Members signed a resolution backing the 21-member Babiito committee’s earlier decision.
The Observer’s account says the council asked Kamurasi and the royal clan to continue preparations for a coronation. No date had been announced by the update cutoff.
The resolution matters because the Supreme Council includes clan, county, religious, business and kingdom representatives. Its support broadens the institutional base behind Prince Edward’s claim beyond the succession committee that first selected him.
Why the succession is still contested
The endorsement does not remove the legal and family dispute that followed King Oyo’s death. Queen Mother Best Kemigisa and Princess Ruth Komuntale have objected to the selection process and said a reported 2022 will should guide the succession. They maintain that King Oyo left a biological son whose claim must be considered.
The identity, legal status and eligibility of that reported son have not been established in a public court record. The clan group supporting Prince Edward says no eligible son was presented to its committee before it made its selection.
CIVIL SOCIETY
Tooro Council Backs Edward Rukidi Amid Succession Row
Sep 16, 2026
Sep 16, 2026
5 min read
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Updated:
FORT PORTAL, Uganda: The Tooro Kingdom Supreme Council has unanimously endorsed Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma as the selected successor to the late King Oyo. The vote adds institutional support to the Babiito royal clan’s choice, but it does not end the succession dispute or amount to formal recognition by Uganda’s central government.
Is Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma officially Tooro’s new king? Tooro’s Supreme Council has endorsed the Babiito succession committee’s choice of Edward Rukidi Nyabongo I and asked the clan to prepare for coronation. Uganda’s government has not gazetted him, and members of King Oyo’s immediate family still cite a reported will and son.
What the Supreme Council decided
The council met at the Rukurato chambers in Muchwa, Fort Portal, on Tuesday. Speaker Julius Mwirumubi chaired the sitting, where members received a formal communication from Babiito clan head Charles Kamurasi about the succession committee’s choice.
Monitor reported that the council unanimously supported Prince Edward, who is being presented by his supporters under the royal name Edward Rukidi Nyabongo I. Members signed a resolution backing the 21-member Babiito committee’s earlier decision.
The Observer’s account says the council asked Kamurasi and the royal clan to continue preparations for a coronation. No date had been announced by the update cutoff.
The resolution matters because the Supreme Council includes clan, county, religious, business and kingdom representatives. Its support broadens the institutional base behind Prince Edward’s claim beyond the succession committee that first selected him.
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Why the succession is still contested
The endorsement does not remove the legal and family dispute that followed King Oyo’s death. Queen Mother Best Kemigisa and Princess Ruth Komuntale have objected to the selection process and said a reported 2022 will should guide the succession. They maintain that King Oyo left a biological son whose claim must be considered.
The identity, legal status and eligibility of that reported son have not been established in a public court record. The clan group supporting Prince Edward says no eligible son was presented to its committee before it made its selection.
Uganda’s Attorney General Sam Mayanja has said the government will not gazette Prince Edward while the competing claim remains unresolved. Pulse Uganda reported the Attorney General’s position, including his view that a court may need to determine the effect of the will and any disputed evidence.
Gazettement is important because it is the central government’s formal recognition step under Uganda’s framework for cultural leaders. The council’s resolution strengthens one side’s position inside Tooro; it does not substitute for that state process.
Muhoozi’s intervention does not settle the law
Uganda’s Chief of Defence Forces, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, publicly backed Prince Edward on Tuesday and called for a coronation rather than court proceedings. That is a political and personal intervention, not a judicial ruling or a gazettement notice.
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The Observer report on the council sitting records the statement alongside the unresolved objections. No court had ruled on the competing succession claims by the cutoff.
Careful wording is therefore essential. “Council-endorsed successor,” “king-designate” or “selected successor” describes what has happened. Saying that every legal and cultural step is complete would go beyond the available evidence.
A second royal death on the same day
The endorsement came as Prince Edward mourned the death of his elder brother, Prince David Kijanangoma Araali. Monitor says Prince Edward announced the death, while the family and Tooro officials also issued confirmations.
Prince David had previously challenged King Oyo’s leadership and declared his own claim to the throne in 2015 before later reconciling with him. His death is a separate family loss and does not, on the evidence currently available, change the competing legal claims concerning King Oyo’s successor.
Reports agree that Prince David had been receiving cancer treatment, but they differ on some medical terminology and fundraising amounts. XTRAfrica is therefore limiting this update to the family-confirmed death and the publicly documented royal relationship rather than presenting disputed treatment details as settled fact.
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What changes for XTRAfrica’s existing coverage
XTRAfrica’s earlier succession report documented the Queen Mother’s objection and the government’s response before King Oyo’s burial. The profile of Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma explains his broadcasting career and royal lineage. The King Oyo biography provides the background to the transition.
The new council resolution is a material step forward for Prince Edward’s supporters. The unresolved state-recognition issue and reported heir claim prevent it from being described as a final settlement.
What happens next
The next decisive events are a coronation date, a central-government gazette notice, a court filing or a negotiated agreement among the royal factions. Funeral arrangements for Prince David are also expected from his family and kingdom officials.
Until one of those events changes the record, the clearest position is that the Supreme Council has endorsed Prince Edward, the Babiito committee is preparing for coronation, and formal government recognition remains on hold
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