Uganda: Tooro's Throne and Its Fierce Matriarchs

What the report says

AllAfrica, citing The Independent (Kampala), reports a succession dispute at Tooro’s Karuziika palace in western Uganda, where clan elders and senior women of the royal family are said to be at odds over who should occupy the throne after the death of King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV. The article says Babiito clan elders are seeking to install Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma, while Queen Mother Best Kemigisa, Princess Elizabeth Bagaya and Princess Ruth Nsemere Komuntale say they are protecting an infant heir referenced in a written will said to date to 2022. The piece also says the women describe a heavy security presence around the palace that has left them effectively confined there.

The report places the dispute in a longer historical pattern, arguing that women have repeatedly shaped Tooro’s survival during periods of dynastic crisis. It recounts the kingdom’s early formation in the 1820s, when women in the royal household helped Prince Kaboyo Kasunsunkwanzi Omuhundwa Olimi break away from Bunyoro, and later episodes in the late 19th century when Queen Mother Vikitoliya Kahinju safeguarded the royal line during exile and succession wars.

The article further links Tooro’s restoration in 1891 to Kahinju’s efforts to secure outside support, including contact with British colonial figures, which helped return her son to the throne as King Daudi Kasagama Kyebambe IV. It also highlights later matriarchs, including Omugo Damali Tibaitwa Adyeri, as examples of women who defended succession claims against rival factions. Taken together, the digest suggests the current contest is not only about one vacant throne, but about how Tooro’s royal legitimacy is defined and protected.