The remains of the late Tooro King, Omukama Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, are expected to arrive in Uganda on Thursday as the kingdom and government intensify preparations for his final rites.
The body is expected to arrive at Entebbe International Airport from Nairobi at around 10am, according to Yunus Kakande, the Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President.
Upon arrival, President Yoweri Museveni is expected to officially receive the remains and pay his respects to the late monarch before the body is taken to Tooro.
“The remains will reach the country at around 10am while coming from Nairobi, that is, if nothing changes between now and then. On landing at Entebbe International Airport, President Museveni will receive the body officially and pay his tribute,” Kakande told Daily Monitor.
From Entebbe, the remains will be airlifted by helicopter to Kyegegwa District, marking the beginning of a journey through Tooro during which kingdom subjects will have an opportunity to pay their final respects.
The body will then be placed on a carriage and transported towards Fort Portal in a slow procession.
According to Kakande, the procession is intended to allow Tooro subjects along the route to see and pay their respects to their late king before the body reaches Karuziika Palace.
“The body will then be put in a cart, moving slowly as the kingdom subjects in that area pay their last respects until Fort Portal, to the palace where nine days of mourning will start to be observed before his burial at the royal tombs,” he said.
The Uganda People’s Defence Forces is also expected to accord the late king official funeral honours, including a gun salute. Kakande said between 11 and 13 gunshots are expected to be fired.
At Karuziika Palace, the remains will lie in state during the official nine-day mourning period before the final burial rites.
The kingdom has clarified that the nine-day mourning period will begin once the king’s body arrives at Karuziika, rather than being counted from the day of his death.
This is in line with Tooro custom, which recognises Karuziika Palace in Kabarole as the official seat of the monarch.
The kingdom previously clarified that the body must be taken directly from Entebbe International Airport to Karuziika Palace, with other royal residences, including Buziga in Kampala, not considered substitutes for the official palace.
“The body of His Majesty shall be transported from the airport directly to the Palace (Karuziika) at Kabarole,” the kingdom said in a statement issued by the office of Omujwera Musuuga, who is overseeing the funeral rites and succession arrangements.
The statement explained that, under Tooro custom, a king’s body should not be moved between different locations because the kingdom recognises only one palace as the monarch’s official seat.
Meanwhile, preparations have intensified at Karuziika Palace and the Karambi Royal Tombs, where King Oyo is expected to be buried.
At Karuziika, roads are being graded, drainage channels improved and the palace compound cleared, with the works supported by the government through the UPDF Engineering Brigade.
The Karambi Royal Tombs are also being prepared ahead of the burial rites.
King Oyo died last Thursday at the age of 34 after a battle with an aggressive form of cancer. He ascended the Tooro throne in 1995 at the age of three, becoming one of the world’s youngest monarchs at the time.
His death has plunged Tooro into mourning, with mourners continuing to gather at Karuziika Palace and other designated centres to pay tribute to the king, whose 31-year reign made him one of Uganda’s most recognisable cultural leaders.
If the current arrangements remain unchanged, Thursday’s arrival will mark a significant moment in the kingdom’s mourning, as the remains of King Oyo begin the final journey from Entebbe through Kyegegwa to Karuziika Palace, ahead of his burial at the Karambi Royal Tombs.
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