Babiito reject Attorney General’s legal advice on Tooro succession

What the report says

The Babiito royal clan of Tooro has rejected legal advice from Attorney General Dr Sam Mayanja on the kingdom’s succession dispute, saying the opinion was written to President Yoweri Museveni rather than to the clan itself. According to The Observer, Mayanja’s September 12 opinion said the late King Oyo Nyimba’s purported will should be respected and that any challenge to it should be taken to court.

The clan’s spokesperson, Fr Charles Oyo, said the Babiito do not see themselves as a party to a dispute and argued that the President, as the recipient of the advice, would decide whether to act on it. He also defended the 21-member committee formed under Tooro customs to handle the succession process after Oyo’s death.

The Attorney General’s opinion questioned that committee’s mandate and cited constitutional provisions on traditional leaders. The committee later named Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma as successor, but several royal family members, including Queen Mother Best Kemigisa, Princess Ruth Komuntale Nsemere and Princess Elizabeth Bagaya, have rejected that choice. The family says Oyo’s alleged will pointed first to his son, and if necessary to other named heirs. Fr Oyo said the clan was never shown the child referred to in the will, while also arguing that the other possible heirs could not qualify under Tooro customs because their father is still alive. The dispute follows Oyo’s death in the United States on August 27 and his burial at Karambi Royal Tombs in Fort Portal on September 12.