FORT PORTAL — President Yoweri Museveni has moved to personally intervene in the increasingly tense succession dispute engulfing Tooro Kingdom, dispatching former security chief and Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development Lt Gen (Rtd) Henry Tumukunde to Fort Portal for high-level consultations with the kingdom’s leadership.
Tumukunde has arrived at a critical moment, with Tooro preparing to bury its late monarch, Omukama Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, on September 12, while disagreements over who should succeed him threaten to dominate the kingdom’s mourning period.
The minister has already begun meeting key players in the kingdom, including Omusuuga Charles Akiiki Kamurasi, head of the Babiito royal clan, members of the Royal Family and kingdom officials.
Tumukunde says his mission came directly from President Museveni.
“Starting from tomorrow, we shall be having meetings to solve the issues of the kingdom and I was sent by the President to resolve the matters,” he said.
The intervention follows Vice-President Jessica Alupo’s visit to Karuziika Royal Palace, where she met members of the Royal Family and kingdom officials and called for unity following the death of King Oyo.
But beneath the public calls for unity lies a succession battle that has already produced competing claims about who should occupy the Tooro throne.
THE SUCCESSION BATTLE
The controversy erupted following King Oyo’s death in the United States on August 27.
Shortly after the announcement of his death, Tooro Prime Minister Calvin Armstrong Rwomiire Akiiki said the late king had left behind a young son who could eventually be presented as his successor.
The revelation immediately generated questions because the existence of the alleged child had not previously been publicly known.
President Museveni subsequently appeared to confirm that the late king had left a son, saying Queen Mother Best Kemigisa had informed him about the child.
But the revelation collided with another powerful institution in the succession process — the Babiito royal clan.
Omusuuga Charles Kamurasi publicly questioned the claim, saying he had not been informed that King Oyo had fathered a child.
“The King had no child. I don’t know about it because we have never been told that,” Kamurasi said, according to reports.
The conflicting positions effectively opened a major question: Does the reported son automatically become the next Omukama, or must the kingdom follow the established Babiito succession process?
That question remains unresolved.
MWENDA’S BOMBSHELL
The dispute escalated further when veteran journalist Andrew Mwenda publicly claimed that the Royal Succession Committee had already selected a successor.
Mwenda announced that Prince George Desmond Kamurasi, aged 36, had been chosen to succeed King Oyo.
According to Mwenda, the 21-member committee met at Fort Motel in Fort Portal on September 4, with 18 members attending, and 15 reportedly voting in favour of George Kamurasi.
The committee was constituted by the Babiito royal clan on August 28, shortly after King Oyo’s death, and is chaired by Omusuuga Charles Akiiki Kamurasi.
Mwenda said the formal announcement would come after King Oyo’s burial in accordance with Tooro customs.
But the announcement itself immediately triggered another controversy.
Kamurasi distanced himself from the manner in which the alleged decision was made public, saying he had not authorised Mwenda to announce a new king.
That has left Tooro facing an extraordinary situation: a possible successor has been publicly named, while senior figures within the royal establishment continue to insist that the formal succession process has not been concluded.
WHY TUMUKUNDE?
It is against this explosive backdrop that Museveni has sent Tumukunde into the heart of the dispute.
The minister is expected to engage the competing sides and seek common ground before the disagreement develops into a deeper institutional confrontation.
His assignment is expected to address several sensitive questions — the reported existence of King Oyo’s son, the authority of the Babiito royal clan, the role of the Royal Succession Committee and the procedure and timing for officially declaring the next Omukama.
Tumukunde has stressed that the succession process must respect both Ugandan law and Tooro customs.
He pointed to the Institution of Traditional or Cultural Leaders Act, 2011, including provisions dealing with disputes involving traditional leadership.
“The succession matters will be communicated to you when we have got appropriate guidance from the President of Uganda and the cultural institution of Tooro,” Tumukunde said.
He also warned that Uganda was being closely watched over the handling of the transition.
“Uganda is on the watch of the world. The burial occasion is of national importance and is attracting international attention,” he said.
BURIAL BEFORE THE BATTLE
For now, the immediate priority is King Oyo’s burial.
His remains were returned to Uganda on September 4 and received by President Museveni at Entebbe International Airport before being transported to Fort Portal.
The remains were later received at Karuziika Palace by Omusuuga Kamurasi and Tooro clan leaders.
The late king is scheduled to be buried at the Karambi Royal Tombs on September 12.
But once the funeral rites are completed, the succession question is expected to return with even greater force.
The central issue will be whether Tooro ultimately recognises the reported biological son of King Oyo, proceeds with the reported selection of Prince George Desmond Kamurasi, or reaches an entirely different consensus through the recognised cultural structures.
For Tumukunde, the assignment is therefore bigger than simply calming tempers.
He must help prevent a succession dispute from turning into a potentially damaging confrontation between the Royal Family, the Babiito clan, kingdom officials and other stakeholders.
And with the country watching, the next move from Tooro’s royal establishment could determine not only who inherits the throne — but whether the kingdom emerges from King Oyo’s death united or deeply divided.
