The burial of King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV at the Karambi Royal Tombs on Saturday, September 12, 2026, was reportedly delayed by a tense standoff involving members of the Tooro royal family, turning the final rites into a dramatic scene.
According to real-time reports from journalist Canary Mugume of NBS and other accounts circulating on the afternoon, the impasse developed after the funeral service at St. John’s Cathedral in Fort Portal, when the casket arrived at the royal tombs.
Queen Mother Best Kemigisa reportedly refused to release the body or leave the vehicle carrying the casket, resulting in a delay to the burial.
Witness accounts circulating from the scene claimed that the casket was eventually forcefully removed from the vehicle. Some accounts also reported that the Queen Mother, and in some versions Princess Ruth Komuntale, remained inside the vehicle as the casket was taken out.
The tense situation unfolded amid a heavy deployment of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) at the royal tombs, with soldiers prominently present as efforts were made to maintain order and facilitate the burial.
The standoff was reportedly resolved following high-level intervention, with reports crediting President Yoweri Museveni’s involvement through Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa and Minister Gen. Henry Tumukunde.
Once the impasse was resolved, the burial proceeded later in the afternoon.
Some reports placed the actual interment at around 5:00pm, after the earlier delays at the tombs. King Oyo was accorded a seven-gun salute as part of his final send-off.
The scenes at Karambi marked the most dramatic moment of a day that had already been overshadowed by tensions surrounding the succession of the late King.
Traditional rites were also part of the burial ceremony, including the reported casting of nine coffee berries into the grave by the successor.
Public access to the immediate burial area had been restricted under cultural protocols, while the significant security presence further heightened the tense atmosphere around the royal tombs.
King Oyo died on August 27, 2026, in the United States at the age of 34 following treatment for cancer. He had ascended the Tooro throne at the age of three and remained Omukama for more than three decades.
His burial was expected to provide a solemn conclusion to the mourning period, but the reported confrontation at Karambi brought the disagreements within the royal family into the open at the final resting place of the late King.
Update: King Oyo has been buried finally after the intervention of Pres Museveni, through Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa and Minister Gen Tumukunde. But even then, this was done under heavy deployment of UPDF soldiers, and locking Queen Mother and Princess Komuntale inside the… https://t.co/CmpAfLQKLA
— Canary Mugume (@CanaryMugume) September 12, 2026