FORT PORTAL, Uganda – The Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) has rejected claims by Tooro Queen Mother Best Kemigisa that the army withdrew royal guards from Karuziika Palace and placed the royal family under house arrest.
The UPDF said additional troops were deployed to reinforce security around the palace and other areas during mourning and funeral activities for the late Tooro King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV.
In a statement issued on September 11, Col. Chris Magezi, Acting Director of Defence Public Information, said the UPDF had “NOT withdrawn the Tooro Royal Guards from the palace as alleged” and that claims that residents of the Royal Palace were under lockdown or house arrest were “not true.”
Magezi also said the UPDF was “not privy to or involved in the succession processes currently ongoing in the Tooro Kingdom.”
According to the statement, the decision to increase security was prompted by the large number of people gathering for the mourning events, the scale of the activities and the proximity of security threats emanating from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
The UPDF said movements were being monitored and access control measures, including searches, had been introduced to ensure the safety of everyone at the palace and surrounding areas.
The statement also confirmed that the Commander of Land Forces, Lt. Gen. Kayanja Muhanga, visited the palace to pay his last respects and inspect work by the UPDF Engineering Brigade on the royal tombs, access roads and other rehabilitation projects.
Magezi said Muhanga was satisfied with the progress of the work and was confident that the sites would be ready for the official burial.
The UPDF extended its condolences to the Queen Mother, the royal family and the people of Tooro and Uganda, saying it remained available, together with other security agencies, to support security, calm and the safety of mourners.
The clarification followed a statement issued by Queen Mother Kemigisa late on September 10, in which she described what she called “a mother’s cry for dignity and peace to bury my son.”
Kemigisa said that three days before the planned burial, Gen. Muhanga came to the palace and “removed the royal guards without notice,” while troops were deployed around the palace.
She also alleged that the Omusuuga, the head of the Babiito royal clan, had been taken to an undisclosed location.
“With the security deployment around the Palace, we cannot leave or receive people freely. We are under house arrest,” she wrote.
The Queen Mother appealed to Gen. Muhanga, the UPDF leadership and President Yoweri Museveni to allow the royal family the freedom and dignity to mourn and bury King Oyo in peace.
King Oyo, who became the world’s youngest reigning monarch when he was crowned at the age of three in 1995, died of cancer on August 27, 2026, in the United States at the age of 34.
His body was returned to Uganda and is due to be buried on September 12 at the Karambi Royal Tombs. The burial date also marks what would have been the 31st anniversary of his coronation.
The Queen Mother’s statement also criticised a Babiito clan succession committee that announced Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma as the next Omukama.
Kijanangoma, a cousin of the late king, is a news presenter at the state broadcaster Uganda Broadcasting Corporation.
Kemigisa said the late king’s will had been read on the same afternoon in the presence of family members and government representatives, including Maj. Gen. Henry Tumukunde, and that it set out the order of succession.
She said an agreement had been reached to meet again the following day, but the committee instead held a press conference and announced its own choice “while my son’s body was still lying next to us.”
The royal family maintains that the will names King Oyo’s biological son as heir. However, clan elders have argued that they have the customary authority to select a suitable adult prince rather than have another child monarch.
The succession dispute has divided parts of the royal family, with some princes publicly backing the will over the committee’s choice.
Uganda is a republic that recognises traditional kingdoms as cultural institutions without formal political power. Tooro, located in western Uganda near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, is one of five such kingdoms.
Large crowds of mourners are expected to attend the burial, while health authorities have previously issued advisories related to the movement of people from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
The UPDF statement did not address the substance of the succession dispute. Instead, it focused on security arrangements and the army’s engineering support for preparations at the royal burial sites.
Both the Queen Mother and the military have publicly expressed the hope that King Oyo will be buried with dignity.
