FORT PORTAL, Uganda — Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma Nyabongo I, a longtime state-broadcaster journalist, was set to be crowned king of Uganda’s Tooro kingdom amid a bitter succession row after King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV died of cancer last month at 34, BBC News and Al Jazeera reported.
Oyo became the world’s youngest monarch in 1995 at age three. Close relatives said he left a young son and a will naming the child heir, but a 21-member Babiito clan committee selected cousin Kijanangoma, 56, saying no son was publicly presented. Queen mother Best Kemigisa called the choice “extraordinarily painful” and said the child in Texas should not return into a polarised dispute.
Uganda’s attorney general cleared the coronation, saying no formal complaint blocked it; President Yoweri Museveni was scheduled to attend. Traditional kings hold no formal political power but retain cultural influence. Kijanangoma vowed an open palace focused on unity and development, saying he would use two decades of journalistic contacts “to get good things for our people.”
Sources: BBC News, Al Jazeera
—
