A MESSAGE OF GRATITUDE, REFLECTION AND HEALING
People of Tooro, friends of Tooro, and all those who stood with us,
As we come to the end of one of the most painful chapters in the recent history of our Kingdom, I wish, on behalf of the Tooro Kingdom administration and on my own behalf, to express our profound gratitude to everyone who stood with us and supported the final journey and dignified send-off of our beloved King, His Majesty Omukama Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV.
Our responsibility during these difficult days was clear: whatever else was happening around us, we had to see this journey through with the dignity, respect and honour befitting our King. We had to put aside our differences, manage our grief and work together to ensure that His Majesty was laid to rest in a manner worthy of the Crown he carried and the people he served.
In a special way, I wish to recognise and thank Prince Jonathan Bala, His Majesty’s Principal Private Secretary, for his loyalty, dedication and service to our King. Throughout this extraordinarily difficult period, his commitment to His Majesty remained steadfast. He carried an enormous personal and official responsibility, often under very difficult circumstances, and continued to serve with dedication until the very end. He deserves our sincere acknowledgement and gratitude.
I thank His Excellency the President, General Muhoozi, the Royal Family, the Government of Uganda, religious and cultural leaders, the organising committees, the media, our Kingdom leadership, clans and Masaza, volunteers, businesses and partners, the people of Tooro, Ugandans across the country, the diaspora and friends from beyond our borders. Whether you contributed your time, resources, professional expertise, food, transport, prayers, presence or simply stood with us in solidarity, you became part of His Majesty’s final journey. We are deeply grateful.
We recognise that everything may not have been done perfectly. This was an unprecedented moment for our generation. We were mourning our King while simultaneously carrying the enormous responsibility of organising his final journey. Emotions were understandably high, decisions sometimes had to be made under extraordinary pressure, and grief affected us all in different ways.
Where we fell short of expectations, where communication could have been better, or where anyone felt disappointed by our actions or omissions, I offer my sincere apologies. These shortcomings should never be mistaken for a lack of respect or commitment. We were a people grieving an immense loss while doing everything within our ability to honour our King.
Now that we have laid His Majesty to rest, another journey begins.
This must be a period of learning, refocusing, rebuilding and healing.
We must learn from what these difficult weeks revealed about our institutions and ourselves. We must strengthen what worked, honestly address what did not, rebuild trust where it has been strained and allow ourselves, individually and collectively, the space to heal.
There will be difficult conversations ahead. There will be institutional questions that require wisdom and clarity. There may be different opinions about the way forward. But our differences must never become greater than the Kingdom we all belong to.
This is not the time for winners and losers. It is the time for responsible leadership, humility and reconciliation.
His Majesty’s passing should remind us that positions are temporary, but Tooro remains. Personal ambitions pass, disagreements pass and generations pass, but the responsibility of preserving this Kingdom for those who come after us endures.
Our guiding principle in the days ahead must therefore remain simple:
Tooro comes first.
Above personalities. Above positions. Above disagreements. Above individual interests.
May we find the wisdom to learn, the humility to reconcile, the courage to rebuild and the strength to move forward together.
@ObukamaBwaTooro
𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 | 𝗧𝗢𝗢𝗥𝗢 𝗦𝗨𝗖𝗖𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗥𝗢𝗪
Two Tooro Kingdom princes have rejected their father’s endorsement of Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma as heir to the throne following the death of King Oyo.
Princes Patrick Mpuuga and Solomon Nyaika said their father, Omusuuga Charles Kamurasi, head of the Babiito royal clan, had been misled by what they described as self-seeking elders.
More details to follow
#VisionUpdates
AN APPEAL FOR PEACE AND UNITY IN TOORO
People of Tooro, our leaders, friends of Tooro and fellow Ugandans,
We are living through one of the most painful and delicate moments in the history of our Kingdom.
His Majesty Omukama Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV has passed away, and even before we have laid our King to rest, sharply differing positions have emerged regarding succession to the Crown of Tooro.
On one hand, a group has announced a new King. On the other, there is a Will left by the late Omukama containing his expressed wishes regarding succession.
These are serious matters that must ultimately be addressed. But as Batooro, we must ask whether this is the right moment, and whether the manner in which this is unfolding honours the King whose body we have not yet laid to rest.
Whatever our positions or interpretations of Tooro’s customs and institutions, there must remain a minimum standard of moral decency.
Let us first bury our King.
The Crown of Tooro has existed for generations and will endure long after all of us. Nothing is so urgent that we must sacrifice the dignity of His Majesty’s final journey, the grief of the Royal Family, the unity of our people or the peace of our Kingdom to settle it now.
There will be time to examine the Will, to hear those advancing a different position, and to consider our customs, the applicable law and the proper institutions through which succession should be determined. That process should take place calmly and credibly, not through competing announcements, confrontation, or attempts to establish facts on the ground while our King still awaits burial.
I therefore appeal to everyone involved, regardless of the position they support, to exercise restraint. Tooro is bigger than any one of us, and the Crown is too important to become the prize in a contest conducted in the middle of our mourning.
I also respectfully appeal to the Government of Uganda to provide appropriate guidance and support to ensure that peace, order and sanity prevail during this sensitive period.
This is not a request for Government to choose a King for Tooro. It is an appeal to help protect the conditions within which the relevant cultural, legal and institutional processes can take place peacefully, fairly and without intimidation or disorder. Where necessary, respected elders, cultural leaders and other credible persons should also help guide an orderly way forward.
My appeal is simple: lower the temperature.
We can disagree without destroying one another. We can defend our positions without insensitive language. We can seek the truth without abandoning our culture, dignity and humanity.
History will remember not only how the succession question was resolved, but also how we behaved when our King died.
Let it record that, in a moment of grief and disagreement, the people of Tooro chose restraint, our leaders chose wisdom over confrontation, and we gave His Majesty the dignity of resting in peace before turning to the future of his Crown.
For now, let us mourn together. Let us bury our King with honour. Then, with dignity, fairness and respect, let the truth and the proper process guide what comes next.
In whatever we do, Tooro must come first.
Dear Leaders,
You were a HUMAN BEING before you became a leader.
Your team are HUMAN BEINGS before they are employees.
Behind every deadline is a person who might be anxious.
Behind every "delivered" is someone who might be exhausted.
Behind every profile picture is a real life you know nothing about.
It’s not always about work.
Sometimes it’s about:
“How are you, really?”
“Are you okay?”
“I see you. Thank you.”
People don’t burn out because they are weak.
They burn out because they were treated like machines for too long.
Be human first. The work will follow.
Abantu temubateko nyo manyi! 😪
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