A single word posted on X has added a fresh twist to the Tooro succession row, just days after a new Omukama took the throne.
Ron Kazooba Kawamara, who is described as a cousin of the late King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, responded on Thursday, October 1, to a post by an account called LoneChild declaring that “Baby Oyo” exists. Quoting the post, Kawamara wrote back: “Babies :)”
The plural is what has caught attention. Until now, the late king’s family has spoken publicly about one son, the heir they say Oyo named in his will. Kawamara gave no further detail on how many children there are, their names, their ages or where they live.
LoneChild followed up with a wish that one of them would one day sit on the throne.
A throne already contested
King Oyo died of cancer in the United States on August 27, 2026, aged 34. He had reigned for 31 years, having been crowned at the age of three in 1995. He was not publicly known to be married or to have children.
With no publicly known heir, the Babiito royal clan looked to the wider line of Oyo’s grandfather, King George Rukidi III. A 21-member committee chose his cousin Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma, a former television journalist. He was crowned on Tuesday, September 29, at Karuziika Palace in Fort Portal, taking the royal name Edward Rukidi Nyabongo I.
Oyo’s mother, Queen Mother Best Kemigisa, and his sister, Princess Ruth Komuntale, opposed the choice. They point to a will, reportedly written in 2022, in which they say the late king named a son as his heir. The clan has said it has no official knowledge of such a child.
Kemigisa has said the boy was left behind in Texas rather than being brought to Uganda, because the family feared exposing a child to the tensions surrounding the succession.
What we still don’t know
Kawamara’s reply leaves more questions than answers. It does not say whether the children are the same ones referred to in the will. It also does not say whether any of them has been formally presented to the Babiito clan, or whether the family intends to pursue the matter now that a new king has been crowned.
Neither the royal clan nor the late king’s family has publicly responded to the post. CampusBee has contacted Kawamara and the Tooro Kingdom for comment and will update this story.
CampusBee will not speculate on the identities of the children, who may be minors.
Should the late king’s children have a say in Tooro’s future? Tell us what you think. @campusbee.ug
