Understanding Tooro’s throne and its defiant women

What the report says

The Observer reports that Tooro’s royal succession is again at the center of a tense dispute at Karuziika Palace in Fort Portal, Uganda, against the backdrop of the Rwenzori Mountains. The article says clan elders from the Babiito are seeking to install Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma as king, while palace women including Queen Mother Best Kemigisa, Princess Elizabeth Bagaya and Princess Ruth Nsemere Komuntale say they are protecting an infant heir mentioned in a 2022 will attributed to the late King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV.

The piece places the current standoff in a long historical pattern in Tooro, arguing that women have repeatedly helped preserve the throne during succession crises. It recounts the kingdom’s founding in the 1820s, when Prince Kaboyo Kasunsunkwanzi Omuhundwa Olimi broke away from Bunyoro with support from female relatives and allies. It also describes how Queen Mother Vikitoliya Kahinju safeguarded her young son during the late 19th century, secured asylum in neighboring kingdoms, and later helped arrange support from Captain Frederick Lugard, which led to the restoration of Tooro and the crowning of Daudi Kasagama Kyebambe IV in 1891.

The article then traces similar interventions by other royal women, including Omugo Damali Tibaitwa Adyeri, who resisted pressure from colonial officials and rival factions after Kasagama’s death in 1928 to preserve the direct succession line for her son, Sir George David Matthew Kamurasi Rukidi III. Overall, the report uses this history to show why the present dispute is significant: in Tooro, royal women have often been central actors in succession, legitimacy and the survival of the kingdom.