A former television news anchor was crowned king of Uganda’s Tooro Kingdom on Tuesday, becoming the 13th monarch of the Batooro people in a ritual-laden coronation that ended a succession dispute.
Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma succeeded King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, whose death last month from cancer at age 34 triggered a feud, with his mother saying a previously undisclosed son was entitled to the throne.
Uganda is a constitutional republic governed by an elected president, but four pre-colonial kingdoms remain as influential symbols of identity and heritage despite not having any political power.
A 21-member committee from the royal Babiito clan selected Kijanangoma, 56, who is Oyo Nyimba’s cousin.
A source with knowledge of the succession dispute told Reuters that Uganda’s central government pushed through that decision over the mother’s objections.
Kijanangoma took the new royal name Edward Rukidi Nyabongo I in a traditional ceremony that included the slaughter of a bull and sprinkling of a hen’s blood in Tooro’s capital Fort Portal.
Nyabongo I walked to Karuziika Palace between midnight and 3 a.m. before taking part in a mock battle for the crown.
At Karuziika, young men dressed in tunics, orange shawls and skins held sticks and spears, some prostrating before the king.
Traditional dancers and drummers, some wearing calabashes, entertained guests who included President Yoweri Museveni.
Earlier, Charles Kayondo Kamurasi, the Omusuuga or head of the Babiito clan who had been wielding power since Oyo Nyimba’s death, handed over authority to the new king in a church service at St. John’s cathedral.
