FORT PORTAL — The Royal Succession Committee of Tooro Kingdom has selected George Desmond Kamurasi as the proposed successor to the late King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, according to journalist Andrew Mwenda, a close associate of the royal family.
Mwenda said the 21-member committee met at Fort Motel in Fort Portal City on Friday, September 4, and endorsed the 36-year-old Kamurasi following several days of deliberations.
Of the 18 members who attended the meeting, 15 voted for Kamurasi, Mwenda said.
“We now await the Omusuuga to make a formal announcement officially to the Babiito clan leaders,” Mwenda said.
The selection has not yet been formally announced by the kingdom.
Mwenda said Omusuuga Charles Akiiki Kamurasi, who chairs the committee, had informed him that Tooro custom requires the public announcement to be made after King Oyo’s burial.
The succession committee was constituted by the Babiito, Tooro’s royal clan, on August 28 following King Oyo’s death in the United States.
It has reportedly been meeting daily since Monday, August 31.
King Oyo died in Texas on August 26, 2026, while undergoing treatment.
His death brought to an end a reign that began in 1995 when he ascended the throne as a three-year-old following the death of his father, King Patrick David Mathew Kaboyo Olimi III.
Kamurasi is a son of George Desmond “Jimmy” Mugenyi, a younger brother of King Patrick David Mathew Kaboyo Olimi III.
This makes him a first cousin of the late King Oyo.
Mwenda said Mugenyi had been named second in the line of succession after his brother Olimi Kaboyo in the will of their father, King George David Matthew Kamurasi Rukidi III.
Mwenda said he had briefed Chief of Defence Forces Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba and Commander Land Force Gen Kayanja Muhanga about the committee’s decision.
“Gen Kainerugaba fully endorses the choice of the Succession Committee of Tooro because it is consistent with the customs, all precedents and laws of Tooro on succession,” Mwenda said.
He further claimed that President Yoweri Museveni supported the committee’s decision and had dispatched a delegation led by a senior Cabinet minister to Fort Portal to consult key stakeholders.
“After extensive consultations with all the key stakeholders, the committee was convinced that there is a wide consensus around the succession of Kamurasi,” Mwenda said.
Neither State House nor Tooro Kingdom had issued an official public statement confirming Kamurasi’s selection by the time of publication.
Under Tooro tradition, the selection of a monarch is principally handled by the Babiito royal clan and its designated succession structures.
The kingdom is expected to concentrate first on King Oyo’s funeral and burial ceremonies before formally presenting his successor.
