Tooro Kingdom continues to mourn the death of King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV who lost the battle to cancer from the United States on 27th last month. The fallen King was laid to rest on Saturday 12th at the Karambi royal tombs.
Amidst the succession bickering as Tooro mourned was a controversial and vocal voice of veteran journalist Andrew Mwenda who also hails from Tooro Kingdom with some maternal connections to the royal clan.
Andrew Mwenda was the first to announce that a committee of 21 Babiito clan leaders had selected Prince George Desmond Kamurasi as the new King to the throne, Omusuuga Charles Kamurasi would later disown that information. Andrew Mwenda would later claim that King Oyo couldn’t have a child with a prostitute on the roadside since he wasn’t officially married.
The announcement by Andrew Mwenda of a new king didn’t sit well with Queen Mother Best Kemigisa who in a statement lashed at the veteran journalist for not allowing the Royal family to mourn and instead focusing on who should be the next King.
At the centre of the chaos is a son whom king Oyo left behind as revealed by Muhikirwa (Prime Minister) Calvin Armstrong Rwomiire Akiiki in his first announcement and the president later carried the same information that the Queen Mother had briefed him that the fallen King left behind a heir.
Later a will left behind by the late King resurfaced but the Succession Committee led by Musuuga Charles Kamurasi punched holes in the will which revealed how the succession should be handled. These went ahead to vote journalist Prince Edward Kijjanangoma to succeed King Oyo.
The decision by the Musuuga-led committee was largely rejected by the mourning royal family; Queen Mother Best Kemigisa, Princess Ruth Komuntale and Princess Elizabeth Bagaya who said the clan leaders should follow the will left behind by King Oyo.
Journalist Andrew Mwenda launched scathing verbal attacks on the Queen Mother Kemigisa accusing her of master minding murder of Prince Kijjanangoma, the eldest brother of Prince Edward who was recently voted to succeed Oyo. Mwenda says Best Kemigisa was behind the killing of the prince and it’s President Museveni who covered up her sins.
Andrew Mwenda also accused Queen Mother Kemigisha of throwing out his grand mother Kezia Byanjeru out of the palace in 1998. According to Mwenda, men acting on orders of Kemigsa lifted the 93-year-old woman and placed her on a pickup truck breaking her hip and led to her death two months later.
For so many well meaning Ugandans who have been sympathizing with our former Queen Mother (QM), Best Kemigisa, here is more food for thought. This morning she refused the body of King Oyo to leave the palace. Government had to use the army to get the body to church.
As I post…
— Andrew M. Mwenda (@AndrewMwenda) September 12, 202
In his latest post, Andrew Mwenda just a day after the burial of King Oyo accused the Queen Mother Best Kemigisa of feigning and faking grief. He claimed that Kemigisa wasn’t mourning the death of her son but was grieving the loss of authority in the Kingdom.
Again this post is addressed to those well meaning people who have been duped to sympathize with Best Kemigisa as she tries to desecrate our cultural heritage. Many of you have said this is not the right moment to attack the former queen mother because she is grieving the loss of…
— Andrew M. Mwenda (@AndrewMwenda) September 14, 2026
Andrew Mwenda’s outbursts have elicited mixed reactions with majority calling him out to allow the old woman to grieve her son than throwing bitter words and accusations at her and wait for the right time.
This is what has prompted the Chief of Defense Forces Muhoozi Keierugaba to direct Andrew Mwenda to shut his mouth and allow the people of Tooro to mourn without having to deal with Mwenda’s bitterness.
I have instructed comrade @AndrewMwenda not to speak about the issues of Tooro again. He will stop it immediately. Once again, as PLU we commiserate with the great Batooro people on the tragedy that befell all of us. May the soul of the late King Oyo rest in peace.
— Muhoozi Kainerugaba (@mkainerugaba) September 14, 2026
Despite the Tooro clan leaders voting journalist Edward Kijjanangoma as new King, his ascendance to the throne faces several hiccups which have since prompted government to reveal that he won’t be gazetted anytime soon as the King of Tooro.
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