By Swift Reporter
The body of the late Tooro King, Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, has left the United States ahead of its arrival in Uganda on Friday, September 4, 2026, as preparations for his final rites enter a critical stage.
Images shared online on Wednesday night showed the King’s coffin at a cargo facility in the United States, where relatives, friends and colleagues gathered for a brief prayer before the remains were loaded for transportation to Uganda.
The development comes after Tooro Kingdom revised the programme for receiving the fallen monarch, moving the expected arrival from Thursday to Friday.
Tooro Prime Minister Calvin Armstrong Rwomiire Akiiki announced the change on Wednesday while hosting Buganda Kingdom Prime Minister Charles Peter Mayiga at King Oyo’s residence in Buziga, Kampala.
The King’s body is now expected to arrive at Entebbe International Airport at about 10 a.m., where President Yoweri Museveni is expected to receive it and pay his last respects.
From Entebbe, the remains will be airlifted by a military helicopter to Kyegegwa District before being taken by road to Karuziika Palace in Fort Portal City.
The revised arrangement will give thousands of Tooro subjects an opportunity to pay their final respects along the Mubende-Fort Portal highway.
According to Fr Charles Oyo, Head of Communications in the Office of the Omujwera Musuuga, the royal cortege will be placed on an open, slow-moving vehicle at Kyegegwa and proceed through Kyegegwa, Kyenjojo and Kabarole districts before entering Fort Portal City.
The decision replaces an earlier plan to fly the body directly from Entebbe to Karuziika Palace.
Fr Oyo said the change followed numerous requests from people along the route who wanted an opportunity to bid farewell to their King.
“Many people have requested an opportunity to bid farewell to the King as the body is in transit,” he said, explaining that the slow-moving procession would allow mourners to wave and pay homage without requiring the cortege to make repeated stops.
He also urged members of the public to remain calm and disciplined throughout the procession, saying the conduct of mourners should reflect the values and heritage of the Batooro.
“We expect there will be a big number of people on the way,” Fr Oyo said. “We appeal to them to keep calm, but also demonstrate who we are as the people of Tooro.”
Once the body reaches Karuziika Palace, the official nine-day cultural mourning period will begin.
The palace will serve as the centre of the royal funeral rites in accordance with Tooro customs, which require the body of a deceased King to remain at the kingdom’s official palace rather than being moved between different royal residences.
The Office of the Omujwera Musuuga, which oversees the cultural funeral rites and heads the royal Babiito clan, has clarified that Karuziika is the kingdom’s official palace, while properties such as the Buziga home are considered royal residences.
The mourning period will culminate in the burial of King Oyo at the Karambi Royal Tombs on September 12.
The date carries particular historical significance for the Tooro Kingdom. It falls exactly 31 years after King Oyo was crowned in 1995 at the age of three, making his final send-off coincide with the anniversary of his accession to the throne.
“It is painful and sad, but maybe God wanted us to see it that way, because that happens to be the coronation day,” Fr Oyo said.
King Oyo died in the United States on August 27, 2026, aged 34, bringing to an end a reign that lasted nearly 31 years.
President Museveni has granted the late monarch an official burial and directed that national flags be flown at half-mast for three days, the day before the burial, the burial day and the day after.
With his body now on its way home, attention has shifted to the historic royal procession that will take King Oyo through parts of western Uganda before his final arrival at Karuziika Palace, where the kingdom will begin its final farewell to one of its longest-serving monarchs.
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