Shakira Shakiraa has explained how an ordinary moment at a gym eventually developed into a friendship with the late Tooro King, Omukama Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV.
The singer recently found herself facing questions online after speaking about her connection with the late monarch.
Some social media users questioned how close the two really were, while others accused her of using King Oyo’s memory to attract attention.
Shakira has rejected those suggestions.
According to the singer, there was nothing calculated about how the relationship began.
She said the two first interacted after a gym machine she was using stopped working.
I was on one of the machines and it refused to work, and he came, he helped me out.
That brief interaction eventually turned into regular greetings whenever they met at the gym.
Over time, Shakira says those encounters developed into a friendship.
She also became acquainted with Queen Mother Best Kemigisa, adding another connection to the Tooro royal family.
The singer insists she never spoke about King Oyo because she wanted to trend.
Instead, she said she was simply responding when people asked about her personal experience with the late monarch.
When they asked me about him, I shared my experience because that stood out in my friendship with him.
Shakira’s explanation comes at a sensitive moment for Tooro following the death of King Oyo.
The monarch’s passing has generated widespread mourning, while people who knew him personally have continued sharing memories of his life.
For Shakira, her memory is not about royal ceremonies or public appearances.
It is about a friendship that, according to her account, started with something as ordinary as a faulty gym machine.
She has therefore dismissed the criticism and maintained that she had no reason to manufacture a relationship with the late king.