Uganda’s King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, once the world’s youngest monarch, has been buried among the tombs of his royal ancestors as the Tooro kingdom seeks to move past a bitter succession battle. Oyo, who took the throne at age three in 1995 and captured global attention, died last month at 34 in the United States, where he was undergoing cancer treatment.
His appointed successor, news anchor Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma, cast nine coffee berries into the grave at the Karambi Royal Tombs, symbolizing the formal handover of power in the western Ugandan kingdom. The burial, held 31 years to the day after Oyo’s coronation, followed days of infighting within the royal family.
A committee of royal clan members announced on Wednesday it had chosen Oyo’s cousin, Kijanangoma, a news anchor and editor at state broadcaster UBC, as king. However, the late king’s immediate family insisted that his hitherto unknown son should succeed him, as stated in his will. Oyo never married and was not known to have any children until the kingdom’s prime minister mentioned a son in the statement announcing his death. Supporters of Kijanangoma’s succession say Oyo’s family has not been able to produce basic information about the purported son.
A source with knowledge of crisis talks said Ugandan authorities had successfully pushed through Kijanangoma’s succession on Friday. A government spokesperson could not be reached for comment. The archbishop of the Church of Uganda, Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu, called for unity, warning that “words spoken in grief can cause pain, division and conflict” and could “even destroy the legacy of the king we are mourning.”
Oyo himself took the throne after a protracted succession battle that ended in court. In addition to his ceremonial duties and campaigning against HIV and AIDS, he cultivated close ties with former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, whom he named a special adviser and who donated money for the royal palace refurbishment. The 56-year-old Kijanangoma, described by fellow journalists as quiet and humble, will inherit a considerable royal estate, including land and cash payouts from the central government. Uganda, led by an elected head of state, retains several pre-colonial kingdoms that are regarded as bulwarks of traditional identity and heritage.
Source: www.theguardian.com