Entebbe, Sept. 4 — The body of King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, the Ugandan monarch once hailed as the world’s youngest reigning king, returned to the country on Friday, dead at 34, as a dispute over a secret heir threatens to split the royal family.
President Yoweri Museveni received the body at Entebbe airport. Oyo, crowned king of Tooro at age three, died of an aggressive cancer while under treatment in the United States, having earlier sought care in Germany.
His death has triggered a fight over succession. Tooro Prime Minister Calvin Armstrong Rwomiire Akiiki and the king’s mother, Queen Best Kemigisa, claim Oyo secretly fathered a son whose identity will be disclosed under royal custom. But Babiito clan head Charles Kamurasi has rejected the claim, accusing the palace of hiding it from the family. “How can we, blood relatives, not know of the child, and the prime minister says he knows? That is totally out of order,” he said.
A government minister sought to calm public unease, saying, “We have a succession plan… all is well. People should calm.” Oyo died unmarried with no publicly confirmed heir.
He will be buried on September 12 at the Karambi Royal Tombs, following a church service, a date that marks what would have been his coronation anniversary.