Succession row kicks off in Uganda after amateur goalkeeper says no to throne

The committee's first choice — a non-league goalkeeper from south-east London — declined, citing other responsibilities. His replacement was then rejected by the late king's own family, who produced a 2022 will that the committee ignored. A non-league goalkeeper from south-east London turned down the throne of Uganda's Tooro Kingdom last week, setting off a succession battle that erupted into open confrontation prior to King Oyo's funeral on Saturday. George Desmond Kamurasi, 36, captain and goalkeeper of SE Dons — a club competing at the ninth tier of English football in Crayford — had been selected by a 21-member royal succession committee as the preferred candidate to succeed his cousin, King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV. Fifteen of the 18 members who took part in the vote backed him. He said no, citing other responsibilities, committee member Fr Charles Oyo told ESPN. In Tooro tradition, refusing the throne after being formally selected is considered a disgrace. Kamurasi has not commented publicly on his decision. Reports in Ugandan media said he was reluctant to leave London — he has family relations in England and was due to play an FA Vase qualifying round the same weekend as Oyo's funeral. The committee then turned to Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma, a news anchor and editor at Uganda's public broadcaster UBC, who was announced as successor earlier this week. That decision has since been rejected by the late king's immediate family. 'Let us grieve' King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, who ascended to the throne at the age of three and reigned over the Tooro Kingdom for 31 years, died recently at the age of 34 while receiving cancer treatment in the US. Guinness World Records had recognised him as the world's youngest reigning monarch. Several thousand people gathered on Saturday in Uganda to pay final respects to the monarch, with President Yoweri Museveni urging unity. "Once the matter of the new king of the Batoro is settled, we will be happy to work with him, just as we did with His Highness Oyo," he said in a statement read out during Saturday's ceremony at Saint John's Cathedral in the city of Fort Portal in western Uganda. "I call on the Batoro to use peaceful and lawful means to resolve this issue and to favour unity over division." The dispute fractured the royal family, with the late king's mother charging that she and other members of the royal family had been put under effective house arrest. The king's sister, Princess Ruth Komuntale, accused "evil vultures" of conspiring against her and Queen Mother Best Kemigisa. She produced a will, which she said the king drafted in 2022, designating "a biological son" as heir without naming him. This came as a surprise to many in the Tooro elite, who had never heard of the son and did not include his name in the succession vote. The Babiito royal committee, which traditionally presides over and determines matters relating to royal lineages, succession, and family affairs, defended its choice on Saturday. "We have done everything in observance of the culture and traditions of Tooro. We must all preserve peace and serenity," the head of the committee, Omusuuga Charles Karumasi, said. The Queen Mother said in a statement that the succession battle undermined their ability to mourn the king’s death. “I also appeal to those fighting over the throne: please, there will be time for all of that,” she said in a statement. “Let us grieve and bury my son King Oyo.” 'One of those deaths one never heals from' Uganda is a republic but officially recognises four traditional kingdoms, banned after independence from British colonial rule by a republican president who said he wanted to unify the country, but they were restored in 1993. The kingdoms serve mainly as cultural institutions with limited political power. Oyo once held the unofficial title of the world’s youngest king, a much-beloved figure even for world leaders introduced to him at national events, including South Africa’s Nelson Mandela. Regents appointed by the kingdom guided Oyo until he came of age at 18. The late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi befriended the Tooro royals as if they were part of his extended family. He made multiple trips to Uganda and supported Oyo and his mother for years before his death in October 2011. “This is one of those deaths, the Bob Marley kind, that one never heals from,” Timothy Kalyegira, a prominent analyst who is from Tooro, said in a eulogy posted on social platform X. “Not Oyo, not that likeable young man, not at 34. That’s what makes it so painful.” "He had a gift to make people laugh," his sister, Princess Ruth Komuntale, said at the burial ceremony. "He always knew how to brighten my day," she said.