The body of the late King of Tooro, Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, is due to land at Entebbe International Airport today, more than a week after his death was announced.
The plane carrying his remains is scheduled to land at 12 pm and President Museveni is expected to personally receive the body when it arrives, before it begins its journey to Fort Portal, where the king will lie in state ahead of his burial on September 12.
King Oyo, who ascended the Tooro throne in 1995 at the age of three, died on August 27 while undergoing treatment abroad. He was 34.
Speaking to journalists in Kampala ahead of the burial, the minister for the Presidency, Milly Babalanda, said the government had set up an inter-ministerial committee, chaired by Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja, to organise what she called a befitting send-off for the fallen monarch.
Babalanda said the committee’s responsibilities include covering the king’s medical bills, transporting his body back to Uganda, feeding mourners since his death was announced, and providing security and general funeral management throughout the nine days of mourning.
Once the body lands at Entebbe, it will be transported to Kyegegwa district, from where a procession will move slowly through Kyenjojo and Kabarole districts on its way to Karuziika Palace in Fort Portal. The procession is meant to allow mourners along the route to view the casket and pay their last respects.
The nine-day official mourning period will begin once the body reaches Karuziika Palace, which will serve as the king’s resting place ahead of burial, in line with Tooro custom that recognises the palace as the monarch’s only official seat.
The state minister for gender and culture, Mary Kamuli Kuteesa, who hails from Tooro, thanked Museveni for the personal role he has taken in the funeral arrangements, saying the president had treated the late king as his own son.
She appealed to Ugandans, particularly the youth, to remain disciplined throughout the mourning period.
“There are people who always have intentions of disrupting such occasions. This should not happen,” Kuteesa said, urging residents across the Tooro sub-region to line the roads peacefully as the procession passes.
King Oyo will be buried on September 12, at the Karambi Royal Tombs near Fort Portal, a date that coincides with what would have been his 31st coronation anniversary.
The final church service is scheduled to begin at St John’s Cathedral, Fort Portal, at 9 am, with mourners expected to be seated by 8 am.
Babalanda said security during the mourning period and the burial will be handled jointly by the Uganda Police Force and the UPDF, while the Uganda Media Centre has been appointed to coordinate official media coverage of the funeral
