Best Kemigisa: She buried her husband, a king, and now her son, King Oyo

What the report says

Queen Mother Best Kemigisa is at the center of mourning in Tooro after accompanying the remains of her son, King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, from Entebbe to western Uganda, according to The Independent Uganda. The article says the royal family, President Yoweri Museveni, government officials, religious leaders and kingdom representatives received the body at Entebbe before it was flown onward toward Fort Portal and Karuziika Palace.

The report places the moment in a wider family history. Kemigisa first lost her husband, Omukama Patrick Olimi Kaboyo II, in 1995, when their son Oyo was only three and became king soon after. The Independent says she then served as regent and helped guide him through childhood and the early years of his reign. It also notes that she lost a daughter in 1997. With Oyo’s death at 34, the article frames her as having now buried a husband, a daughter and the son whose kingship defined much of her life.

The piece says Museveni paid tribute at Entebbe and recalled efforts to secure treatment for Oyo after his illness was reported in November 2025, including care in Germany and later the United States. Those efforts did not succeed, the article reports. For Tooro, the loss is presented as both personal and institutional: mourners lined the route to Fort Portal, where residents and royal supporters gathered to pay respects to a monarch many had known since childhood.

More broadly, the story underscores how Oyo’s long reign was intertwined with the lives of his subjects, who watched him grow from a child king into an adult ruler.