Uganda royal family under 'house arrest' in succession row

The mother of a Ugandan traditional king, Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, who died last month but was once the world's youngest monarch, said Thursday she was being held against her will in the palace with other members of the royal family over a succession dispute.

King Oyo, who ascended to the throne at the age of three and reigned over Uganda's Tooro Kingdom for 31 years, died while receiving cancer treatment in the United States.

Guinness World Records had recognised him as the world's youngest reigning monarch. Uganda is a republic but officially recognises traditional kings, who serve mainly as cultural institutions with limited political power.

A selection committee from the Babiito royal clan announced on Wednesday that Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma, a news anchor for the public broadcaster UBC, had been chosen to succeed his cousin as king.

That was opposed by Princess Ruth Komuntale, the late king's sister, who accused "evil vultures" of conspiring against her and the Queen Mother.

She produced a will, which she said was drafted by the king in 2022, designating "a biological son" as heir, without giving his name.

This came as a surprise to many in the Tooro elite, who had never heard of the son, and chose to exclude him from the vote.

"A king cannot sleep with a prostitute on the street or a house maid, produce a son and it is hoisted onto the throne," Andrew Mwenda, a powerful figure in Uganda who hails from Tooro, said on X.

"This is not to suggest that Oyo did any of this. It is simply to say that he was not officially married, and if he left a son, Toro needs to know the mother and her background," he added.

Mwenda is a close associate of President Yoweri Museveni's son, the army chief General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who wields growing control over the country and has vowed to take over after his father.

On Thursday, Queen Mother Best Kemigisa released a statement saying troops had "removed the royal guards without notice, and... were deployed around the palace."

"We cannot leave or receive people freely. We are under house arrest," she said.