Kossy D🇺🇬🌍

Always Evolving

[Sarah Kagingo @SarahKagingo]

Omukama Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV elevated the annual #Empango festivities into a signature cultural and tourism event, attracting visitors from across Uganda and around the world.

The scale of His Majesty’s imagination was embodied in Tooro Kingdom Vision 2045, an ambitious development and transformation framework launched in 2021, spanning agriculture, education, health, tourism, culture and jobs.

Video: Omukama Oyo’s 30th coronation anniversary in 2025 at Karuziika Palace, Fort Portal.

#KingOyoLegacy #PeoplesKing

[Alan Kasujja @kasujja]

Maan..

We are very grateful to General @mkainerugaba for moving so quickly when I asked for a vehicle to support our work.

Let me give this some context.

@UgandaMediaCent has been chronically underfunded for a long time.

The pickup involved in the accident was given to us by our PS to help with field work. Before that, we basically had one vehicle, which is assigned to the ED’s office.

So when the accident happened, we had a problem.

First and most importantly, we are just grateful that our colleagues who were travelling in that pickup are fine. Cars can be replaced. People can’t.

But it also meant that, overnight, we had no vehicle for field work.

The PSST and our colleagues at the Ministry of Finance understand the situation and have allocated some money to help us beef up the fleet. That process will take its course.

In the meantime, we were back to one car.

So that “village excitement” you saw when General Kainerugaba gave us the Land Cruiser was simply a huge sigh of relief.

Someone in a position of leadership saw that we had a genuine problem and made a decision. Immediately.

I appreciate that enormously.

I’ve wasted so much time sitting in people’s offices talking about “collaboration”, asking for support, having long meetings and getting absolutely nowhere.

These days I hardly take meetings. If I do, I’ll normally initiate them myself or ask people to come and see me.

I’m interested in people who want to get things done.

Credit where it’s due. @mukiza_robert and I had a 10-minute conversation. We agreed what needed to be done and decided to work together.

Same thing with @UCC_ED and @NITAUgandaED.

We’re going to work with @JulzKagwa and her team at @TourismBoardUg. We’re also very keen to support @ODPPUGANDA.

There will be others.

That’s the kind of collaboration I’m interested in. Less talk. More doing.

Because ultimately all of us are working for the same country.

And if we bring our institutions, resources and ideas together, we can do a much better job of telling Uganda’s story.

[Marcus @MarcusKwikiriza]

Yesterday I went to Hon @OgwangOgwang’s constituency in Katakwi where a parish priest has set up a basketball court to keep youth busy and off alcohol and drugs. Katakwi has already produced National team material so this great news for us at @FubaBasketball

[Judith Heard @IAMJUDITHHEARD]

A blessing should produce gratitude, not superiority.

Whoever mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker.
— Proverbs 17:5

God has blessed me too, and one thing I pray I never lose is humility. If I used everything God has given me to compare myself to others or make people feel small, what kind of testimony would that be?

What we have today can be gone tomorrow. The blessing is not just what is in your house, your bank account, or what you wear—the blessing should also be visible in your character.

May God bless us so deeply that the evidence isn’t only in what we own, but in how we treat people who have less than us.

Stay humble. Everything belongs to God anyway.

[The Observer @observerug]

The now-deceased Tooro kingdom leader visited some high-end hospitals in Kampala after feeling persistent backpain. X-rays, MRI scans later, they told him they saw nothing.

Being a person of means, he flew to a hospital in Nairobi where he was diagnosed with cancer. A year later he was dead. What did the doctors in Nairobi see that the Kampala ones couldn’t?

Well, Nairobi has a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan or a few. Kampala and the whole of Uganda don’t. A PET scan costs about $3m (Shs 11.7bn) or approximately 17 Land Cruisers.

If there was a meeting of government officials, you would run out of space to park them. That is how many we have in Uganda but a PET Scan is not something we have been able to buy and install yet.

https://t.co/kZ4PB2kkpO

[Simon Kaggwa Njala @SimonKaggwaNjal]

There is a big pandemic in Uganda called misdiagnosis. Quite often it’s a mischievous scheme to defraud unsuspecting patients. I have a friend who was once diagnosed with Cancer by one of the top notch private hospitals in Kampala. They immediately booked him for treatment in India. He bid us farewell, very unsure about his return. When reached India, before his appointment, he met an Ugandan who asked him to do a second independent test elsewhere. They detected no cancer after 3 tests. He had gastric ulcers for which he was given drugs worth $20 and asked to return home. The hospital ate his deposit. I gather there are brokers here who eat commission.

[TumukundeTonny(TT) @TumukundeTT]

THERE IS A BIG PROBLEM IN YOUR STATEMENTS, THEY WILL TEAR THE KINGDOM. LET ME TELL YOU WHY;
Your statement is long, but its central weakness is remarkably simple: it assumes the very authority that the Queen Mother is challenging.

You tell us that over 100 Babiito met at Karuziika, selected 21 people, and that this became the “Royal Succession Committee.” But where, precisely, did those 100 Babiito derive the legal or customary authority to constitute a body whose decision would determine the next Omukama?

Calling it a “Royal Succession Committee” does not answer that question. A committee does not become legitimate merely because it gives itself a name, holds a meeting and votes.

If the Queen Mother’s objection is that this was a “self-appointed group,” the answer cannot simply be: more than 100 people attended. The real question is whether those people had the recognised mandate under Tooro custom to constitute the body that Mwenda now treats as the supreme electoral authority. That is the answer 'Best' is looking for.

There is another serious problem.

You say Oyo’s son was excluded because there was no photograph, there were questions about his mother, different names had been used, and some Babiito had never heard of him.
But since when does not having a photograph at a meeting become a customary test of dynastic legitimacy? As, you claim to be an 'old man of the clan', do you think the absence of the above, delegitimise the young boy (if any) of his royalty? Be fair Andrew!!!

If the existence of a possible heir was genuinely in dispute, the rational course would have been to verify the claim—identity, parentage, birth records, DNA where appropriate, testimony, and the applicable customary requirements. Instead, the committee allegedly moved from uncertainty to exclusion.
That is not the same thing as disproving the claim.

You also make a revealing rhetorical move by repeatedly calling the child “Oyo’s purported son.” That is a conclusion masquerading as neutral description. If paternity is disputed, then say it is disputed. Do not use the language of uncertainty to create the impression that the claim has already been discredited.

You say the Queen Mother was represented on the committee by her brother Patrick Kawamara. But if the Queen Mother herself is an institutionally significant actor in the succession of her deceased son, why should her participation be reduced to being represented by a relative on a committee whose mandate she disputes? Would you expect a sober mother like 'Best' to be in such a contested meeting with her son lying unburied??
Representation is not the same thing as consent. Nor does the fact that a person attends a meeting necessarily mean that they accept the legitimacy of the process taking place at that meeting.

The argument about the will is equally problematic. You say the will contains only a “hypothetical heir” and therefore does not resolve succession. Fine.
But if the will does not resolve succession, why is it being deployed as part of the argument against the Queen Mother’s position?

A will may answer questions concerning property and personal wishes. Succession to a traditional throne is a different question governed by the applicable constitutional, statutory and customary framework.

So the real issue is not whether Oyo’s will magically names a successor. The real issue is whether the succession process being undertaken is lawful, customary, legitimate and inclusive of the institutions entitled to participate in it.

And this is where your statement becomes politically interesting. You spend enormous energy explaining why Oyo’s possible son should not automatically inherit. But who is arguing that a son automatically inherits? That is a straw man!!!

The more difficult question is whether the existence of a son and the circumstances of his birth must first be conclusively established before the kingdom closes the succession question. Those are completely different propositions.

Your statement also says the kingdom was “time barred” and therefore moved to the next candidate after George Kamurasi allegedly asked for time to consult his wife and business partners. Time-barred by what rule? What customary provision imposes that deadline? Who set it? Why was the deadline necessary? And why should the urgency of filling the throne override unresolved questions concerning a possible direct descendant of the deceased Omukama? These are not minor procedural questions. They go to the legitimacy of the entire process.

But there is an even deeper issue that your statement does not confront. Why is there such extraordinary urgency to determine the next King?

If the real objective is simply to identify the most legitimate successor, there should be no fear of a transparent process that establishes the facts first. The controversy therefore appears to be about more than the identity of the next Omukama. It is about who will have influence over the next Omukama.

The Queen Mother is not merely another relative of the late King. She occupies a distinct cultural position and has been closely associated with the young King and the institution of the Tooro monarchy.

Therefore, a succession struggle in which the Queen Mother’s influence is diminished, her preferred position is challenged, and a new succession structure is rapidly constructed around her is inevitably going to raise questions about the political future of the institution itself.

This is why the debate should not be reduced to:

“Did Oyo introduce his son?”

“Was there a photograph?”

“What did the will say?”

“Did 100 Babiito meet?”

Those are pieces of the puzzle—not the puzzle itself.

The fundamental questions are:

Who has the authority to determine succession?

What customary rules confer that authority?

Was the Queen Mother’s institutional role properly recognised?

Why was the possible heir excluded rather than subjected to a transparent verification process?

What exactly made the succession process “time barred”?

And, ultimately:

Who benefits from determining the next Omukama through this particular process, at this particular moment, and with the Queen Mother’s influence reduced?

Until those questions are answered, your statement does not settle the succession dispute.

It merely gives us one side’s explanation of why it believes it should control the process.

And that is precisely the issue in dispute.

[105.6 Jubilee Radio @JubileeRadioUg]

"I don't want these evil vultures to steal what my brother worked so hard for! He was such a humble and peaceful man and I will continue standing with him.May his Soul rest in peace- Princess Komuntale to the Babiito"
https://t.co/KUueq4oZra
📷📸 Courtesy

[Amon 👷 @rwenzori_]

PRINCESS ELIZABETH BAGAYA

* Born in 1936 in Kabarole, she is the daughter of the late King of Tooro, Omukama George Rukidi III, and Queen Kezia.

* She was the first East African woman to graduate with a law degree from the University of Cambridge (1962) and the first to be called to the English Bar as a barrister (1965).

* Returning to Uganda, she became the first woman admitted to the Ugandan Bar in 1966.

* After traditional kingdoms were abolished by Milton Obote in 1966, she fled to London, where she became a globally renowned supermodel, signing with the Ford Agency and making history as the first Black model to appear on the cover of Harper's Bazaar.

* She studied acting in New York and starred in major international films like Bullfrog in the Sun and Sheena: Queen of the Jungle.

* When Idi Amin took power, she returned and served as Uganda’s Foreign Minister in 1974.

* Her relationship with Amin soured over false accusations, leading to her house arrest and eventual escape from the country in 1975 to save her life.

* After fleeing political hostility a second time under Obote's regime, she secretly married Prince Wilberforce Nyabongo (an aviation engineer) in London in 1981.

* Her husband died suddenly in a fatal plane crash in December 1986 at just 32 years old.

* Devastated by his death, she stepped away from her role as Uganda’s Ambassador to the United States in 1988 to dedicate her life to global charity work, never remarrying or having children.

* She later returned to national diplomacy, serving as Uganda’s Ambassador to Germany, the Vatican, and High Commissioner to Nigeria.

* When traditional kingdoms were restored and her brother King Patrick Kaboyo VII passed away in 1995, she became a principal regent and official guardian to her toddler nephew, King Oyo.

* Today, at 90 years old, she remains a highly respected pillar of the Tooro Kingdom.

[Marcella Karekye @MKarekye]

Only God can carry you through this pain🙌🏿

[David Sejusa, DM. @sejudav]

THE DOUBLE TRAGEDY OF OMUKAMA OYO'S DEATH:
I have kept away from X(Twitter) until Rukidi 1V was back omu Bukama'bwe(his Kingdom). He is now at HUMURA, KYEGEGWA-TOORO.
Death, especially for such a young person/Monarch, is a great tragedy. But dying alone, away from his People, whom he has reigned over for 31 years compounds this TRAGEDY to unimaginable proportions!
That the young Monarch(Omukama), had to seek treatment in a FOREIGN LAND where he passed on must INTERROGATE OUR COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS about where we want to be/go as a PEOPLE/COUNTRY.

In African traditional beliefs, it was an abomination for a King to die on FOREIGN SOIL. Our people believed that when a King died in foreign land, his ANCESTORAL POWER would be entrapped in that FOREIGN SOIL. And that henceforth, the Kingdom would lack 'COSMIC BALANCE'. Therefore, we need to pray for TOORO KINGDOM!
The Omukama Oyo's father was my friend. I remember when I went to see him and his newly-wed bride; Best Kemigisa and spent two days with them at their residence in Dar Salaam-1989, where OMUKAMA PATRICK DAVID KABOYO OLIMI 111 was our MINISTER-COUNSLOR at the time. Extremely, extremely sad!

My wife and I, extend our heartfelt condolences to the People of Tooro, the Omukama's family, and all Ugandans.
REST IN PEACE RUKIRABASAIJA!

[Tony Otoa @Comrade_Otoa]

Comrades, I see a lot of people concerned about the word “sweet”. But let me explain.
“Sweet” crude oil refers to its low sulfur content (typically under 0.5%). The name comes from an old-fashioned way oil prospectors used to test crude: they’d taste it. Oil with low sulfur tasted mildly sweet, while high-sulfur oil had a foul, sulfurous taste — hence “sour” crude for the high-sulfur stuff.

Sweet crude is more desirable because it’s cheaper and easier to refine into gasoline and diesel, since you don’t have to strip out as much sulfur (a process that adds cost and requires specialized equipment). West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent crude are both examples of sweet crude, which is part of why they’re used as major pricing benchmarks.

[NTV UGANDA @ntvuganda]

UPDATE : Cabinet has approved the use of the National Identification Number, NIN, issued by NIRA as the Tax Identification Number for taxpayers, replacing the existing separate TIN registration system.
#NTVNews

[NTV UGANDA @ntvuganda]

“There are school hours, prep and morning prep, so you find that a child is sleeping for only five hours.”

Ms Suzan Akwii, a clinical psychologist with Wellness International in Gulu City, has linked the rising cases of suicide among school-going children to anxiety and poor sleep, as children struggle to cope with academic pressure and parents’ demands for better results.
#NTVNews

🎥 James Owich

[NBA Hoops @Thechat101]

Jaylen Brown exposing the behind-the-scenes realities of the NBA. He says most players have handlers who won’t let them invest in their communities, and help build the next Black Wall Street. Once you start doing that, he says, they begin attacking you media personalities like Colin Cowherd push certain narratives, and media companies come after you simply because you want to create change in your community.

[Ministry of Health- Uganda @MinofHealthUG]

“Cooking with polyethyene bags (kaveera) is very dangerous. Those polythene bags are poisoning our food” ~ @DianaAtwine

Watch the full podcast on https://t.co/8cmowg5rNf

#MOHatWork

[Calvin Armstrong Rwomiire Akiiki @toorokingdompm]

It is with profound sadness and a heavy heart that I announce the passing of His Majesty the Omukama of Tooro, King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, at approximately 10:00 p.m. this evening.

This is an immeasurable loss to the Royal Family, the people of Tooro and the nation of Uganda.

Omukama Atulize.
Enkuba Etutire.

I call upon the people of Tooro to remain united, calm and prayerful during this difficult time.

The continuity of the Crown is assured. His Majesty leaves behind a Prince as his heir, whose identity will be formally revealed at the appropriate time, in accordance with the traditions and customs of Tooro Kingdom.

An official statement will follow with further details, including the funeral and mourning arrangements.

May His Majesty the King rest in eternal peace.

[NBS Television @Fireliglntfi]

VIDEO: Here are the parliamentary officials who have today been remanded to Luzira Prison over multiple charges of corruption.

#NBSUpdates #NBSLiveAt9

[Kossy D🇺🇬🌍 @djkossyd]

https://t.co/VIHorNzq5g