The royal drums are once again placed in a vertical position. Just like the spears. And all the lion sculptures both inside and outside the Karuziika Palace, in Fort Portal, have been unveiled again. The mourning in the Ugandan kingdom of Toro has ended, and since early this morning, the eight million inhabitants of this important traditional Monarchy in the region of the great African lakes are experiencing a historic day of jubilation with the coronation of their new king, Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma, who ascends to the throne as Nyabongo I (56 years old).
A thanksgiving service at the Cathedral of St. John in Fort Portal in honor of the new sovereign officiated by the bishop of the Anglican Church of Uganda, Reuben Kisembo, and, above all, the proclamation ceremony, with hundreds of guests, including members of other royal families of Uganda, as well as the president of the federal Republic, the old fox Yoweri Museveni, are the central events that culminate the succession process at the head of this Monarchy that has experienced in recent weeks a tumultuous dynastic soap opera that threatened to destabilize the entire region.
On August 27, the king Rukidi IV died at the age of 34, who had been proclaimed king at the age of three, upon the death of his father in 1995, which made him world-famous with his entry into the Guinness World Records as the youngest monarch on the planet. Also known as King Oyo, he died of cancer in the United States, where he had been undergoing treatment for several months. Immediately, the succession process began. The young sovereign was neither married nor had children. At least not known. The surprise came when his mother, the powerful queen mother Best Kemigisa, informed President Museveni and the entire nation of the existence of a secret son of Oyo, residing in Texas, whom his father had allegedly named as his successor in an unknown will in 2022. However, the royal clan of the Babiito, the reigning dynasty of Toro, refused to accept this surprise. The 21 members of the family council with the right to resolve these matters set out to resolve the succession issue. Although initially the footballer George Desmond-Kamurasi, a cousin of the deceased, was chosen as the new monarch, his refusal to take the throne ultimately led to the appointment of the one who now becomes king, who willingly accepted his responsibility, aware that the waters are currently turbulent in the kingdom. Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma, who has been a prestigious news anchor on Ugandan state television until now, is the son of Prince Christopher Paul Kijanangoma and the grandson of the former king Rukidi III, just like the recently deceased Oyo.
"I was raised with a deep awareness of my origins and with the firm conviction that heritage must be accompanied by discipline and hard work. My family never allowed me to consider my royal lineage as a right; they presented it to me as a duty for which I had to prepare. Alongside that education, I spent 24 years forging a career in journalism and public communication," Nyabongo I wrote in the last hours in a message addressed to his nation and to all of Uganda, with the promise that he will exercise his leadership to "unite" all the inhabitants of Toro.
It has been of no use for both the aforementioned queen mother Best Kemigisa and her daughter, Princess Ruth Komuntale, to refuse to recognize the legitimacy of the new sovereign. There is no turning back. The Ugandan federal government has blessed the proclamation, and the inhabitants of the main cities of Toro are participating in ancient rituals in the last hours to welcome the one they trust will lead them with wisdom and good judgment from now on.
Throughout the night, the new king has been accompanied by thousands of his subjects in a nocturnal procession from the Rwengoma Palace to the Karuziika Palace, where a symbolic simulated struggle and a fictitious "attack" to take control of the fortress took place at the gates, ancestral rites that symbolically depict the control of the throne of each sovereign who comes to power. In the magnificent procession, as the enthusiasm of those present became increasingly contagious, the royal guards badumas carried bundles of dry reeds that were later lit by the attendees as torches to illuminate the path of the acclaimed monarch. At the same time, a group of young people carefully laid out palace mats so that he would not step directly on the ground, as tradition dictates.
Toro, with eight million inhabitants, is one of the four traditional kingdoms recognized by the Constitution of Uganda, alongside Bunyoro, Buganda, and Busoga. It gained its independence in 1830, after separating from Bunyoro. Although the entire region was colonized by the British, who turned much of sub-Saharan Africa into territory of their vast empire. After Ugandan independence in 1962, the father of the current king of Buganda, kabaka Edward Mutesa II, became the first president of all of Uganda. However, in 1966, Milton Obote staged a coup, abolished the Constitution, and dissolved the traditional kingdoms.
Obote was overthrown in 1971 by the army led by General Idi Amin. After a brief return to power by Obote years later, and following a devastating war in the African nation, Museveni assumed the presidency in 1986. And, six years later, the powerful Army Council approved the restoration of the traditional kingdoms in Uganda.