Tooro elders’ meeting halted by security

What the report says

Security personnel from the Uganda People’s Defence Forces and police were deployed on Tuesday at the Tooro Kingdom administrative offices in Muchwa, Fort Portal City, after plans for a Supreme Council, or Rukurato, sitting became contentious. The venue also hosts the kingdom’s parliamentary chambers. According to The Independent Uganda, the doors to the chamber were locked and guarded as members tried to gather despite an earlier postponement announced by Tooro Kingdom Prime Minister Calvin Armstrong Rwomiire Akiiki.

Rwomiire said the meeting had been delayed until further notice while he was in Kampala meeting government officials and other authorities over arrangements for the return and burial of the late Tooro monarch, King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV. Some council members, led by the head of the Babiito clan, Omusuga Prince Charles Kamurasi, still attempted to proceed with the sitting. A kingdom spokesperson said the Prime Minister had no authority to stop the council from meeting, but security officers blocked access to the chamber.

Negotiations between the members and security personnel did not produce a resolution, and the group later left without holding the session. The article says such a sitting is traditionally important after a king’s death because burial plans are presented to the council and the succession process can be addressed.

The confrontation comes amid a wider dispute over the succession to the Tooro throne. The Babiito clan has formed a committee to handle the selection process, while differing public claims have emerged about whether the late king left an heir. The king’s body is expected in Uganda on Thursday as burial preparations continue.