From the newsroom to the throne: Who is Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma? Former TV presenter crowned king in Uganda | Today’s news
The former TV news anchor was crowned king of Uganda’s Tooro Kingdom on September 29, Reuters reported. Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma has become the 13th monarch of the Batooro people, ending a succession dispute, the agency said.
Kijanangoma succeeded Oyo Nyimba King Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, whose death last month from cancer at the age of 34 sparked controversy, news agencies reported. King Oyo Nyimba’s mother had earlier said her undisclosed son was entitled to the throne.
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Uganda is a constitutional republic governed by an elected president. But the four pre-colonial kingdoms remain influential symbols of identity and heritage despite having no political power.
Tooro is one of the four main officially recognized historical kingdoms of Uganda.
A 21-member committee from the Babiito royal clan chose 56-year-old Kijanangoma as king. Kijanangoma is a cousin of his predecessor Oyo Nyimba.
The king of “toddlers” has died in the US
Kijanangoma took the new royal name Edward Rukidi Nyabongo I in a traditional ceremony that included the killing of a bull and sprinkling of chicken blood at the capital’s Tooro Fort Portal.
Nyabongo I went to the Karuziika palace between midnight and three in the morning before participating in a mock battle for the crown.
Oyo Nyimba died in the US on August 27 while undergoing treatment for angiosarcoma, an aggressive cancer. He was buried on 12 September at the Karambi Royal Tombs in Fort Portal.
He came to worldwide attention in 1995 when he ascended the throne at the age of 3 following the death of his father, with images of the toddler king wearing royal robes and a crown sparking widespread fascination.
The coronation of the new king took place despite the objections of Oyo Nyimba’s mother, Best Kemigisa and sister, Princess Ruth Komuntale. The late king is said to have left behind a young son and a will naming him as heir.
Oyo Nyimba was not married and was not publicly known to have children. The kingdom’s prime minister first mentioned the child in a statement announcing his death.
Who is Kijanangoma, news anchor and editor?
Kijanangoma was born in 1970 and grew up in Kidukuru village in Fort Portal, about 300 km from Kampala, the capital of Uganda. He graduated in mass communication from Uganda’s prestigious Makerere University in 1999.
He then worked as a broadcaster in a career spanning more than two decades, including in neighboring Rwanda, with the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC), a BBC report said.
Now he returns to the community he came from, this time as its leader.
Kijanangoma, the new king, has long been a familiar face in the East African nation, where he was known to many not as heir to the throne but as a storyteller: a long-time presenter and editor at the state broadcaster, the BBC reported.
He was among several people considered for the role, including Prince George Desmond Kamurasi, who plays football for one of Britain’s most famous amateur clubs.
Kings have no formal political authority
Traditional Ugandan kings have no formal political authority, but maintain cultural influence and command significant loyalty in the communities they lead, the BCC said.
Nyabongo I’s former colleagues at UBC State Station, where he worked as anchor and news editor, describe him as humble and down-to-earth.
“Everyone in Fort Portal is happy because of this new king. We are getting ready. The women are ironing their mask. The men are ironing their kanzus,” Toora resident Elizabeth Kengonze told Reuters.
Kijanangoma is a humble and down-to-earth king, revered in his community.
At the weekend, relatives gathered at Karuziika Palace, his new home, accompanied by traditional drummers and dancers wearing calabash and orange bark scarves.
(With inputs from Reuters, BBC)
