The sons of Babiito royal clan head Musuuga Charles Kamurasi have rejected the selection of Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma as the new Omukama of Tooro, accusing members of the clan of disregarding the wishes of the late King Oyo.
Speaking to journalists at Karuziika Palace in Fort Portal on Thursday afternoon, Yoweri Komwiswa Nyaika and his brother Solomon Mpuuga said they were disappointed with their father for supporting a succession process which, in their view, ignored the late king’s wishes.
Mpuuga said the family had been informed about Oyo’s purported will and had agreed to find a way forward, only to be surprised when members of the Babiito clan announced a different successor.
Nyaika accused some members of the Babiito clan of influencing their father and attempting to undermine the legacy of the late king. He alleged that some of those involved in the succession process were motivated by interests in kingdom property and were opposed to people from certain tribes within Tooro.
The two brothers also claimed that King Oyo had relieved their father of his duties as Musuuga following his 30th coronation anniversary celebrations last year. They said Oyo subsequently appointed Mpuuga to take over as Musuuga.
Their claims have added another layer to the succession dispute that erupted on Wednesday evening when a 21-member committee constituted by the Babiito royal clan announced Kijanangoma as the new Omukama following King Oyo’s death.
The announcement was immediately rejected by members of the royal family, led by Princess Ruth Komuntale Nsemere and Princess Elizabeth Bagaya, who said Oyo had left a will outlining his succession plan.
According to the family members, the purported will provides for Oyo’s son to succeed him and names Yoweri Komwiswa and Solomon Nyaika, both sons of Musuuga Kamurasi, as possible successors should Oyo’s son be incapacitated.
The competing claims have raised questions over the authority of the succession committee and whether the traditional process that resulted in Kijanangoma’s selection had the backing of all key members of the royal family and Babiito clan.
Despite their opposition to Kijanangoma’s selection, Nyaika and Mpuuga called for peace and unity among the people of Tooro, saying the succession dispute should be resolved without dividing the kingdom.
However, Moses Musinguzi, spokesperson for the Babiito clan, said the traditional process to install Kijanangoma would proceed.
Musinguzi maintained that the decision to select and announce the new king was guided by the traditions of Tooro and the established procedures of the Babiito clan.
This reminds me of what happened in Busoga between Nadiope family from Kamuli and Muloki family from Kaliro… Could there be a “hidden hand” in the spiritual power transfer of the Bachwezi. What we could be witnessing is a game plan to delay, confuse and sabotage as the benefactor takes advantage. If Musuuga is offered 40M, 50M or 100M in cash, the guy will happily take it and do the dirty work. Not everyone who smiles with you is your friend! One is left to wonder why would someone want to contaminated the blood-line monarchy with the old “damaged goods & services”, yet you have pure, innocent successors already? Even the gods of the Bachwezi would decline to participate.
If a Will is there and proved to be true, let it be respected.
The Musuuga Kamurasi committee’s legitimate function would be to protect the Babiito succession from an outsider and to verify that any proposed successor belongs to the eligible royal line. In that sense, Kamurasi’s position as chief prince or Musuuga gives him an important gatekeeping role—but not necessarily a personal right to determine the succession.
The danger arises when the gatekeeper is also a close relative of the deceased king, is excluded from information about the king’s health and treatment abroad, and then becomes central to a rushed succession process. That creates a serious conflict-of-interest appearance:
he may genuinely have believed the royal line was at risk;
he may have been reacting to being excluded from the late king’s inner circle;
or he may have used a genuine protective mandate to advance a preferred outcome.
The timing and sequence make the last two possibilities difficult to dismiss. Reports describe a dispute involving the alleged will, Oyo’s claimed son, the committee’s treatment of Desmond Kamurasi’s request for time, and the rapid selection of another candidate. They also report opposition from members of Kamurasi’s own family, who say the late king’s wishes should be respected.
The strongest institutional criticism is therefore that a person who was both a principal gatekeeper and a possible power-centre should not have been allowed to control the process without transparent consultation with the royal household, the Queen Mother, the late king’s children, and the wider clan. Otherwise, a safeguard against outsiders can become a mechanism for insiders to capture the kingship.
The elders would therefore have legitimate power only to the extent that Tooro custom actually makes them selectors of the Omukama. They would not have unlimited power to seize the office, bypass all royal institutions and the Uganda Law, or install whoever they prefer. Even where a clan has a selection role, it should still follow the accepted sequence, consult the relevant royal authorities, and act in a manner consistent with the kingdom’s established constitutional arrangements.
That is why the timing matters so much. If they for example announced Kijanangoma before burial, before the mourning rites were complete, before resolving the alleged son’s status, and after treating a hesitant first choice, Desmond, as a rejection, it makes the process look less like the careful exercise of a traditional safeguard and more like an attempted fait accompli.