Funeral held in western Uganda for Tooro Kingdom's King Oyo amid succession dispute

The funeral has been held in western Uganda for a traditional monarch who ascended the throne of the Tooro Kingdom as an infant in 1995 and died last month at 34, triggering a succession dispute that has rocked the royal family and gripped the nation.

The funeral of Tooro's King Oyo Nyimba in a cathedral in the remote city of Fort Portal, near the Congo border, concludes a nine-day mourning period that was blemished by an increasingly acrimonious dispute over who should succeed him.

Oyo once held the unofficial title of the world’s youngest king, a mesmerizing figure even for world leaders introduced to him at national events, including South Africa’s Nelson Mandela. Oyo was guided by regents appointed by the kingdom until he became an adult at 18.

He will be buried next to his ancestors later on Saturday.

King Oyo, as he was best known to his subjects, was unmarried when he died late in August after suffering from cancer. Elders with the kingdom’s ruling clan, known as the Babiito, said he never declared an heir to them, disputing the account of others in the kingdom who said he left behind a son born out of wedlock. The son has not been publicly identified, leading to sensational claims on social media of at least two possible heirs alleged to be Oyo’s children.

On Wednesday, a committee of Tooro elders announced that they had chosen a prince working as a journalist to succeed Oyo, earning praise from traditionalists who want an adult on the throne and rebuke from the king’s closest relatives.

Oyo’s sister, Ruth Komuntale, said the announcement sought to “bring division and turmoil.” Queen Mother Best Kemigisa said in a statement that the succession battle undermined their ability to mourn the king’s death. “I also appeal to those fighting over the throne: please, there will be time for all of that,” she said in a statement. “Let us grieve and bury my son King Oyo.”

Traditional monarchs are beloved but don’t wield any formal power in the East African country.

Oyo was crowned in 1995, at the age of 3, after his father’s death. He was a curious child in colorful robes and an object of adoration for his hundreds of thousands of followers.

At his coronation, he went through a series of tribal rituals and was led into the royal cemetery to perform a coming-of-age ceremony: successfully tossing nine coffee beans into his father’s tomb.

Amid the ongoing succession dispute, it was not clear who would perform this rite. The matter of Oyo’s successor could go to the courts, after his family said he left behind a will that had been ignored by Tooro elders.

“This is one of those deaths, the Bob Marley kind, that one never heals from,” Timothy Kalyegira, a prominent analyst who is from Tooro, said in a eulogy posted on social platform X. “Not Oyo; not that likeable young man; not at 34. That’s what makes it so painful.”

The late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi befriended the Tooro royal family as if they were part of his extended family. He made multiple trips to Uganda and supported Oyo and his mother for years before his death in October 2011.