Journalist Andrew Mwenda has reignited controversy surrounding the Tooro Kingdom’s long-running succession and political disputes after publishing a lengthy social media thread making a series of serious allegations against Queen Mother Best Kemigisa.
Mwenda accused the Queen Mother of having played a central role in the 1999 killing of Prince Kijanangoma, claiming that an investigation conducted at the time implicated her as the alleged architect of the crime.
According to Mwenda, the government under President Yoweri Museveni ultimately chose not to prosecute Kemigisa because she was caring for the young King Oyo, who was only seven years old at the time.
Mwenda said he supported the decision at the time, arguing that prosecuting the Queen Mother could have created instability around the young monarch and the Kingdom.
He contrasted that decision with the treatment of another person he identified as an accomplice, John Katuramu, who was sentenced to death in connection with the killing.
The allegations have now resurfaced at a particularly sensitive moment for Tooro, where questions surrounding the Kingdom’s succession have generated intense public debate following the death of King Oyo.
Mwenda also revisited an earlier dispute involving the late former Queen Mother Kezia Byanjeru, whom he identified as his 93-year-old grandmother.
He alleged that in 1998, Kezia was violently removed from the royal palace by a group of people he described as ruffians acting on Kemigisa’s orders.
Mwenda claimed the elderly woman was placed on the back of a pickup truck and suffered a broken hip during the incident. He further alleged that she died approximately two months later.
The journalist went on to make additional claims concerning the circumstances surrounding the death and burial of King Oyo, alleging that Kemigisa had refused to release the late king’s body for burial and that the army eventually intervened.
He further accused her of allegedly forging King Oyo’s will in an attempt to influence the succession and promote her preferred candidate for the Tooro throne.
Mwenda’s post also contained broader allegations concerning land, power struggles and what he described as decades of intrigue and manipulation within the Kingdom.
He argued that Batooro had remained silent for too long over what he portrayed as longstanding disputes involving the royal institution.
The renewed accusations come amid heightened tensions over the identity of King Oyo’s successor, with members of the royal family publicly expressing differing positions over the succession process.
Mwenda’s claims have attracted attention because of the seriousness of the allegations and their connection to unresolved events dating back more than two decades.
However, the allegations remain **claims made by Mwenda and have not been independently verified**. No evidence establishing the accusations against Queen Mother Best Kemigisa has been presented in the information available for this report, and the allegations should not be treated as proven facts.
Mwenda reportedly deleted the original social media post shortly after publishing it. Screenshots containing portions of the lengthy thread have since circulated widely online, keeping the allegations in the public domain despite the deletion.
The resurfacing of the claims is likely to add another layer to the increasingly heated debate surrounding Tooro’s royal succession, particularly as members of the royal family and other stakeholders continue to contest aspects of the process.
The allegations also reopen questions about the unresolved history surrounding the 1999 death of Prince Kijanangoma and the political decisions made in its aftermath.
For now, the accusations remain part of a wider public dispute over Tooro’s royal history, succession and leadership, while their factual basis remains subject to independent verification.
