KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — A journalist was crowned king Tuesday of a traditional monarchy that lost its former “little king” last month, sparking widespread grief and a succession dispute in Uganda’s Tooro kingdom.
The journalist is a prince who has long been employed as broadcaster and editor with Uganda Broadcasting Corp. He chose the royal name Edward Rukidi Nyabongo. He performed rituals overnight, was ushered into the palace and was formally unveiled to his supporters on Tuesday.
Traditional kingdoms were banned in the 1960s, after Uganda’s independence from British colonial rule, by a Republican president who said he wanted to unify the country. They were restored in 1993.
Traditional leaders exercise no formal authority in the East African country and are legally prohibited from engaging in partisan political activities. But they exercise immense authority among their people as guardians of traditional culture.
The coronation ceremony at Fort Portal, a remote town in western Uganda and not far from the border with Congo, was watched by thousands of people in person and on television. Speaking at the event, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni urged traditional leaders to promote local languages.
In a brief speech during his coronation, Nyabongo pledged to be a unifying figure for all his people. Before his enthronement, the monarch told local newspaper New Vision that “legacy must go hand in hand with discipline and hard work. My family never let me view royal descent as a right; it was presented to me as a duty to prepare for.”
Nyabongo was not particularly high in the line of succession, but elders of the kingdom’s ruling clan, known as Babiito, chose him from a pool of eligible princes after King Oyo Nyimba’s victory. died of cancer at age 34 in August with no publicly known heir.
The Queen Mother, Best Kemigisa, contested the decision and charged that the written will of King Oyo was not respected in the selection of Nyabongo.
Kemigisa said Oyo left behind a young son whose identity would be revealed at the right time, casting doubt on the legitimacy of Nyabongo and the Babiitos’ decision to choose him. Local media cited scenes of disagreement – including a brief dispute over custody of the king’s remains – at Oyo’s September 12 funeral.
Although Oyo’s alleged son is yet to be revealed, purported photos of an ‘Oyo baby’ have flooded social media, giving hope to the late monarch’s followers. But critics say the child, if he exists, should have been presented to the elders of the kingdom while his father was alive.
“They demonstrated that these are the norms of the kingdom,” Nicholas Sengoba, a prominent political analyst in Uganda, said of Babiito’s choice of Nyabongo. “A lot of these positions may not be popular.”
Oyo was crowned in 1995, at the age of 3, after the death of his father. He was a curious child dressed in colorful robes and an object of adoration to his hundreds of thousands of followers.
At his coronation, he underwent a series of tribal rituals and was taken to the royal cemetery to perform a coming-of-age ceremony: he successfully threw nine coffee beans into his father’s grave.
Oyo once held the unofficial title of the world’s youngest king, a fascinating figure even for world leaders who were introduced to him at national events, including South Africa’s. Nelson Mandela. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was among those who befriended the Tooro royal family as if they were part of his extended family. Gaddafi made several trips to Uganda and supported Oyo and Kemigisa for years before Death of Gaddafi in October 2011.
Oyo was guided by regents appointed by the kingdom until he became an adult at age 18.
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