THE MOTHER OF THE KING
By Godfrey Tinka
Tooro is in mourning. King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV is gone at just 34.
In our grief, we found comfort in one piece of news: The King left behind a toddler son who could become the next King, keeping the 200-year-old royal family alive.
We are all excited about the prince. But no one is talking about the mother of the prince.
Who is she?
Unlike in Bunyoro where marriage to the queen is a public cultural process, King Oyo never had a publicly known official marriage. The mother of this heir is believed to be a young lady who was in love with the King, but without the formal bond of a traditional royal marriage.
She is young. She is not yet a queen, but she is now the mother of a possible king.
What happens to her if her son becomes King?
This is where culture meets humanity.
In our tradition, the mother of the King is not an ordinary woman. She must live close to the palace, submit to palace rituals, live a life of strict moral scrutiny, and dedicate her entire being to the throne.
If she accepts for her son to be enthroned, we must ask honestly:
Will she still be free to marry the man she may love tomorrow? Tradition says the Queen Mother does not remarry. Are we asking a girl in her early 20s to remain single for the rest of her life to protect the sanctity of the crown?
Will she be forced to live a life of rituals and restrictions she never signed up for?
How do we avoid raising another King outside Tooro?
One of the greatest cries in Tooro during Oyo’s reign was that our beloved King grew up outside Tooro – in Kampala and London – and struggled to deeply reflect the true language, depth and character of his own people.
Now we face the same trap.
If we take the toddler away from his mother to raise him in the palace under guardians, we traumatize both mother and child. If we leave him with his mother far from Tooro traditions, we will again raise a king who is a stranger to his own people.
Who will raise the king?
The danger of 17 years without a King
If we crown a 2-year-old, Tooro will have no active king for the next 15 to 17 years. It will be a long period of regency rule.
We know our history. From 1967 to 1993 we had no king and the kingdom nearly died. Regencies in Tooro have always opened doors for power struggles, land wrangles and misuse of kingdom properties by those acting in the name of the king.
Who will be regent for 17 years? And who will check his power?
A call for wisdom
I appeal to the Kingdom Parliament, the Royal Family, the clan elders and the Government:
1. Protect the dignity and privacy of this young mother. Do not turn her into a public spectacle.
2. Be honest with her. Explain to her what her rights will be if her son becomes King – including her right to love and marry again.
3. Create a new, humane model where the prince grows up in Tooro, rooted in our culture, but with his mother still part of his life, not imprisoned by the throne.
4. Consider whether Tooro can have an adult King now, as we groom this prince as Crown Prince, to avoid a 17-year vacuum.
We must save the throne, but we must not save it by breaking the heart and future of a young woman who gave us an heir.
The mother of the king matters too.
