Tooro’s Babiito royal clan has pledged to protect and support Queen Mother Best Kemigisa despite the ongoing dispute over who should succeed her late son, King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV.
Charles Kayondo Kamurasi, the Omusuuga of the Babiito, said Monday that while Kemigisa currently has no formal role in the succession process, she remains a member of the royal family and deserves the clan’s support.
“Currently she has no role, but she is our mother. She is both the king’s wife and the king’s mother. It is our responsibility to protect her and look after her, and I affirm that as Tooro Kingdom we shall look after her.”
Kamurasi’s comments come amid an increasingly tense succession dispute following the death of King Oyo on August 27, 2026, at the age of 34.
Babiito elders initially selected Prince George Desmond Kamurasi as their preferred successor. He later declined the throne, citing personal responsibilities.
The elders subsequently selected Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma, who has since presented himself as the king-designate and outlined some of his plans for the kingdom.
However, Queen Mother Kemigisa and other members of King Oyo’s immediate family have rejected the succession process.
The family maintains that King Oyo left a will naming his biological son as his successor and has called for the document to be respected.
That position has put the royal family at odds with the Babiito elders’ succession process, creating tension over the future leadership of Tooro.
Despite those disagreements, Kamurasi said the succession dispute should not interfere with the clan’s responsibility toward Kemigisa.
His statement effectively separates the question of who should succeed King Oyo from the clan’s duty to care for the Queen Mother, whom he described as both the late king’s wife and mother.
For now, the succession dispute remains unresolved, with different sides maintaining competing positions over how Tooro should move forward following King Oyo’s death.
But Kamurasi’s latest remarks make one point clear: whatever happens with the throne, the Babiito clan says it will continue to stand by Queen Mother Kemigisa.