The choice of Prince Edward Kijanangoma Rukidi as the next Omukama of Tooro has been thrown into fresh uncertainty after Princess Ruth Nsemere Komuntale publicly challenged the decision.
Kijanangoma was announced on Wednesday as king-elect, with the Ababiito clan saying it had selected him to succeed the late Omukama Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, who died on August 27 and is scheduled to be buried on Saturday.
READ: Prince Edward Kijanangoma named new King of Tooro
Komuntale, however, says the succession should not have moved away from Oyo’s immediate lineage.
According to the Princess Royal, the late king had indicated who he wanted to succeed him, with a second option provided should his first choice be unable to assume the throne.
She argues that Kijanangoma does not feature among the two choices she says were identified by Oyo, and therefore questions the decision by the Babiito elders to endorse him.
At the centre of the disagreement is also a purported will attributed to the late Omukama George David Kamurasi Rukidi III. The authenticity of the document has not been independently established, but it has added another layer to the debate over the royal succession.
Kamurasi, who died in 1965, is said to have outlined a succession plan involving four of his 14 sons.
The document reportedly placed Patrick David Matthew Kaboyo as his first choice. Kaboyo later became Omukama Patrick Kaboyo Olimi III and was the father of King Oyo. Following Kaboyo’s death in 1995, Oyo ascended the throne at the age of three.
The purported document also names Christopher Paul Kijanangoma as an alternative successor in the event that Kaboyo died without an heir or became mentally incapacitated.
Christopher Paul Kijanangoma is the father of the current king-elect, Prince Edward Kijanangoma.
The succession list reportedly went further, identifying Stephen Edgar Paul Karamagi as another possible successor should Kijanangoma die without an heir or become mentally incapacitated.
It is this arrangement that Komuntale says raises questions about the latest selection. In her view, the succession should have remained within the branch of Kaboyo and, subsequently, Oyo’s own family before the alternative line could be considered.
The debate has also been fuelled by reports that King Oyo left behind a young son.
After Oyo’s death in the United States, President Museveni said he had been informed by Queen Mother Best Kemigisa that the late monarch had a young son and heir.
The claim prompted calls from sections of the Babiito clan for the alleged child to be presented and his lineage verified before the succession process was concluded.
Omusuuga Charles Kamurasi, head of the Babiito royal clan, had earlier said the alleged heir should be brought before the clan, stressing that the process must be guided by Tooro’s cultural traditions.
Komuntale’s intervention now adds a new dispute to a succession process that was already facing questions over the identity and eligibility of the next monarch.
Her rejection comes only days before Oyo’s burial, meaning the kingdom is preparing to lay its former king to rest while a debate over his successor remains unresolved.
The new is rejected by Princess Komuntale. pic.twitter.com/puaj7EswIr
— Urban (@urbankyari07) September 9, 2026
Who is Princess Ruth Nsemere Komuntale?
Princess Ruth Nsemere Komuntale, commonly known as the Batebe or Princess Royal of Tooro Kingdom, assumed the title on September 12, 1996, following her installation by her late brother, King Oyo.
Born in 1989 in Fort Portal, Kabarole District, she is a daughter of the late Omukama Patrick Kaboyo Olimi III and Queen Mother Best Kemigisa.
Her intervention places one of the kingdom’s senior royal figures at the centre of the unfolding debate over who should occupy the Tooro throne.
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