The remains of Tooro King [Omukama] Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV will arrive in Uganda on Friday morning, setting in motion nine days of official mourning ahead of his burial in Fort Portal on September 12.
Queen Mother Best Kemigisa Akiiki will accompany her son’s remains on a flight from Nairobi to Entebbe International Airport, where the body is expected to arrive at about 10am.
The remains will be there for a brief, private and restricted mourning session with President Museveni before being airlifted to Kyegegwa Airstrip in Kyegegwa District.
No ceremony or entertainment is planned at Kyegegwa. But the body will instead be transferred to a hearse for the monarch’s final road journey to Fort Portal and, ultimately, Karuziika Palace, the seat of Tooro Kingdom.
There will be no scheduled stops along the route, although the procession is expected to slow as it approaches Fort Portal and the palace, according to Minister for Presidency Milly Babalanda, who released the official programme on Thursday.
Members of the public will be allowed to line the route and witness the procession, but security will be tightly managed by police and the army.
The body is expected to reach Karuziika Palace on Friday evening, where the formal cultural reception will mark the beginning of the mourning period.
It is at this point that the return of the king’s remains takes on a deeper significance for the Tooro establishment.
The cultural reception will be led by Omujwera Musuuga Charles Kamurasi, the 80-year-old head of the Babiito ruling clan from which Tooro kings trace their lineage.
Musuuga’s role in receiving the remains comes against the backdrop of recent disagreements within the kingdom over the handling of the late king’s affairs, including conflicting public accounts involving senior kingdom officials.
The disagreements have raised questions about the respective roles of the kingdom’s cultural leadership and the Tooro government-appointed officials, with some of the disputes becoming public in the days surrounding the king’s death.
The funeral programme, however, puts those differences aside for the mourning period.
Meanwhile, from September 5 to 12, King Oyo’s remains will lie in state at Karuziika Palace for official mourning.
Members of the public will be allowed to pay their respects, while prayers will be held each evening.
The final funeral service will take place on September 12 at St John’s Cathedral in Fort Portal City.
Babalanda said ‘mourners are expected to be seated by 8 am., apart from VIPs, with the service and speeches expected to conclude by noon.’
The timing follows Tooro cultural practice, under which kings are not buried in the evening.
After the cathedral service, the remains will be taken on foot to Karambi for the final burial rites, which are expected to conclude by about 2 p.m. A gun salute is also planned in accordance with official funeral protocols.
September 12 will coincide with what would have been Oyo’s 31st coronation anniversary.
King Oyo died aged 34 in the United States and President Museveni said he had been receiving treatment for an aggressive form of cancer.
He became King of Tooro in 1995 at the age of three and was recognized as the world’s youngest reigning monarch.
His nearly three-decade reign made him one of Uganda’s most prominent and admired traditional rulers.
Although Uganda is a republic headed by an elected president, its traditional kingdoms retain cultural and social roles and continue to wield significant influence among their subjects.