When King Oyo fasted to defend Tooro’s borders and Museveni’s sharp reply

What the report says

In mid-2014, Tooro Kingdom’s Omukama Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV announced a fast to protest what he saw as the division of his kingdom’s ancestral territory. According to The Independent Uganda, the dispute was sparked by the formal recognition of two new cultural institutions in Kasese and Bundibugyo for communities linked to the Rwenzururu and Bwamba areas, regions Tooro has historically claimed as part of its traditional domain.

The report says kingdom officials framed the fast as a response to the creation of the institutions without consultation, as well as a broader complaint about the slow return of kingdom property that had been taken decades earlier. King Oyo began the six-day fast at Karuziika Palace in Fort Portal on 14 July 2014 and invited subjects and religious leaders to join him. The article says he spent the period in prayer and received visitors from different denominations, breaking the fast in the evening with a simple meal.

President Yoweri Museveni, who had served as one of Oyo’s guardians, dismissed the protest in comments reported by The Independent, saying the king would benefit from losing weight and staying healthy. Those remarks angered supporters of the Tooro throne, prompting street demonstrations in Fort Portal and a police response that included teargas and arrests. The episode ended after six days, but the territorial and asset disputes continued in later talks between the kingdom and the central government. The article presents the fast as one of the most visible moments of tension between Tooro and the state during Oyo’s reign.