President Yoweri Museveni has today mid-morning received the remains of King Oyo at Enetbbe International Airport and told the country that he was first infomred about the 34- year old mondarch’s illness in November 2025 and later in February during the presidential campaigns when he offered to have him flown to Germany for treatment .
Museveni laid a wreath while paying tribute to the fallen king and called on the people of Tooro to remain calm and allow a dignified- 9 day mourning period and burial on September 12th at Karambi Royal Tombs in Fort Portal , Kabarole district .
At Entebbe Airport , Museveni was joined by Tooro Kingdom officials who included the 59 year old Queen Mother, Best Kemigisa, the late King Oyo’s 90 year old paternal aunt Princess Elizabeth Bagaya , and 36 year old sister Princess Ruth Komuntale, other members of the Royal Family, cabinent ministers , religious leaders , relatives, friends and other dignitaries .
“He was a gentleman and did a lot of good work for his kingdom at a tender age . He also had a good relationship with the central government which is commendable . I commiserate with the family and the Batoro for the loss of their king,” Museveni stated .
The body was later flown by Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) helicopter flight AF-625 to Humura Primary School playground in Kyegegwa District, from where it be transported by road to Fort Portal in Tooro Kingdom.
King Oyo, died on August 27 at the age of 34, in Dallas Texas USA where he was being treated for advanced cancer . King Oyo assumed the throne at the age of three in 1995 – following the death of his father, King Patrick David Matthew Rwamuhokya Kaboyo Olimi III.
Oyo was the second-born child of the late Omukama Patrick David Matthew Kaboyo Olimi III and Queen Best Kemigisa Kaboyo, with two sisters. He was born on April 16, 1992. Oyo’s two sisters are Princess Ruth Nsemere Komuntale and the late Princess Cecilia Komukyeya.
Princess Komukyeya King Oyo’s younger sister passed away from leukemia in October 1997 at the age of four.
He attended Aga Khan Primary School in Kampala and later Kampala International School Uganda before pursuing a degree in Business Management at the University of Winchester in the United Kingdom.
The Tooro Kingdom follows a hereditary system in selecting its monarch.
Oyo was not officially married, but President Museveni said that he was told by the Queen Mother Kemigisa that he had left a son and therefore , “the continuity of the Crown is assured”.
When he became king in 1995 a regency, which included the queen mother, and Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveniwas established until Oyo turned 18 when there was an official coronation.
Oyo’s mother was among his key advisers in his younger years, as was President Museveni, who attended his coming-of-age 18th birthday party in 2010 in Fort Portal.
Oyo was known as a lover of sports, and a fan of London football club Arsenal.
He took interest in causes including HIV prevention, environmental conservation, tourism and climate change, for instance when he embarked on a hiking expedition in the Rwenzori Mountains in 2022 to try to showcase Uganda’s tourism potential and the risks of climate change.
President Museveni has since granted at official burial for the much loved departed King Oyo.
