There is something almost haunting about the calendar surrounding the Tooro throne. On August 26, 1995, Tooro lost a King.
On August 27, 2026, it lost his son. Thirty-one years after the death of Omukama Patrick David Matthew Kaboyo Olimi III, his only son, King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, also died, just one day after the anniversary of his father’s death.
Oyo was only three years old when his father’s death suddenly pushed him into a life most children could never imagine.
He became King. He became the face of Tooro. And eventually, he became one of the most recognisable traditional leaders in Uganda.
Now he is gone. The announcement came shortly after 10 p.m. on Thursday. Tooro Kingdom Prime Minister Calvin Armstrong Rwomiire Akiiki delivered the news that many had been dreading.
“It is with profound sadness and a heavy heart that I announce the passing of His Majesty the Omukama of Tooro, King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, at approximately 10:00 p.m. this evening.”
Then came the words that captured the mood of an entire kingdom: “Omukama Atulize. Enkuba Etutire.” Let the King rest. The rain has stopped.
The kingdom had earlier told the public that the King was critically ill and asked people to pray. Then, within hours, the worst happened. King Oyo was dead at 34.
And with him ended a royal journey that began when he was barely old enough to understand what a kingdom was.
Imagine being three years old and being told that you are no longer simply a child. You are the King.That was Oyo’s reality.
Born on April 16, 1992, to King Patrick David Matthew Kaboyo Olimi III and Queen Mother Best Kemigisa, Oyo became heir to one of Uganda’s historic kingdoms.
Then tragedy struck. His father died on August 26, 1995, aged 49.The little prince inherited the crown.
On September 12 that year, he was enthroned as Omukama of Tooro. According to the Tooro Kingdom’s official biography, he became the kingdom’s 13th ruler and entered the record books as the world’s youngest reigning monarch.
And Oyo grew up with the crown following him everywhere.
Being King did not exempt Oyo from homework. He still had to learn. He still had to sit in classrooms. He still had to swim, listen to music, study mathematics and enjoy art.
He attended preschool in London before returning to Uganda, where he studied at Aga Khan Primary School in Kampala.
He later attended Kampala International School Uganda. There, behind the royal title, he was still a schoolboy who enjoyed art, music, mathematics and swimming.
But there was one major difference between Oyo and the other children. Oyo could not run a kingdom at three. So others had to do it while he grew. Queen Mother Best Kemigisa was central to his upbringing.
Princess Elizabeth Bagaaya, Prince James Mugenyi, the Kabaka of Buganda Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II and President Yoweri Museveni were also among those who played roles in guiding the young monarch during his childhood.
For years, Oyo was effectively growing into the job. Then came 2010. The boy King had become a young man. On April 17, shortly after his 18th birthday, he formally assumed greater responsibility for the monarchy.
The child everyone had watched for years was now expected to lead. And that was when the Oyo story changed. Oyo did not stop at royal protocol. He went to university. He travelled to England and studied Business Management at the University of Winchester. In October 2013, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree.
The boy whose photographs had once appeared around the world because he was a child on a throne had become a university graduate preparing to manage a kingdom in a completely different era.
If there was one cause that repeatedly put Oyo in the public spotlight as an adult, it was the fight against HIV/AIDS. In 2014, young people under the African Young Positives Network selected him as an ambassador for a campaign aimed at ending AIDS in Africa by 2030.
He was later appointed to a UNAIDS ambassadorial role focused on HIV/AIDS among young people. He used the influence of the crown to speak to young people about testing, prevention and treatment. The message was simple: being a King was not only about sitting in a palace.
Oyo’s Tooro was not just Karuziika Palace. The kingdom’s nine counties Burahya, Fort Portal, Kyaka, Ntoroko, Bunyangabu, Kitagwenda, Kibaale, Mwenge South and Mwenge North formed the communities over which the cultural institution sought to maintain its identity and unity.
In his later years, Oyo travelled into the counties to meet his subjects. In 2025, he began a royal tour that took him across the nine counties. He listened to local concerns. He promoted youth programmes. He spoke about agriculture. He urged young people to embrace productive work.
And he told politicians to avoid politics that divided people along tribal or sectarian lines. The King wanted the crown to be more than a symbol. He wanted it connected to the lives of ordinary people.
Oyo understood the power of young people because he had been one of Uganda’s most famous young people himself.
Through youth programmes, he encouraged young people to embrace farming, entrepreneurship and productive economic activities.
The Tooro Masaza Cup was used not only to promote football but also as a platform for HIV/AIDS awareness and community mobilisation. For a King who inherited his throne before he could understand it, the focus increasingly became how that throne could help shape the future.
The Rwenzori Mountains became another part of Oyo’s public legacy. Environmental protection, tourism and climate awareness were among the issues associated with his later activities. A royal expedition into the Rwenzori was used to draw attention to environmental conservation and the tourism potential of Tooro and the wider region.
The King who had once attracted tourists because of his unusual childhood was now trying to attract attention to the land and people he represented.
Oyo’s story cannot be separated from the men who wore the crown before him. His father was Patrick David Matthew Kaboyo Olimi III, born September 9, 1945, and who died August 26, 1995.
Before Olimi III was Rukidi III, born March 6, 1904, and who died December 21, 1965.
Before him was Daudi Kasagama Kyebambe III, born around 1860 and who died on December 31, 1928.
Then came earlier rulers including Katera, who ruled during 1876–1877, and Kakende Nyamuyonjo, who ruled during periods in the 1870s and 1880s.
Oyo’s name, Rukidi IV, itself carried the memory of his grandfather, Rukidi III.
The crown he wore was therefore never simply his. It carried the memory of those who had worn it before him.
This is perhaps the hardest part of the story. Oyo was only 34. For nearly 31 years, Tooro had known him as its King.
In announcing Oyo’s death, Prime Minister Rwomiire said the late King had left behind a Prince who would be heir to the crown.
But the identity of the Prince has not yet been officially revealed. The Prime Minister said the announcement would come at the appropriate time, in accordance with Tooro customs and traditions.
The Crown, he assured the people, will continue. So while Tooro mourns one King, another royal chapter is waiting to begin.
The tributes have already started. The Kyabazinga of Busoga, William Wilberforce Gabula Nadiope IV, described Oyo as a visionary and humble cultural leader who preserved tradition while inspiring a new generation.
The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, Stephen Samuel Kaziimba Mugalu, conveyed condolences to the Royal Family, Rwenzori Diocese and the people of Tooro.
From across the border, the Mwami of Bukumu Kingdom in eastern DR Congo, Butsitsi Kahembe IV Isaac, mourned Oyo as his “brother and friend.”
The tributes reveal just how far Oyo’s influence travelled. He was a Tooro King. But he had also become a national figure.
There will be funeral rites. There will be mourning. There will be royal traditions.There will be the unveiling of an heir.
There will eventually be another King. But none of that changes what happened on the night of August 27. A kingdom lost the man who had been its face for almost three decades.
