The bitter succession dispute in Tooro Kingdom has taken a new and potentially explosive turn after the reported departure of Queen Mother Best Kemigisa from Karuziika Palace, amid claims that virtually everything inside the royal residence was removed.
The development has triggered fresh debate over the ownership and status of furniture and other items at the palace, with supporters of the Queen Mother arguing that the removal could be part of preparations for a new king, while her critics accuse her of treating a royal institution as a private residence.
Videos circulating on social media show largely empty rooms at Karuziika Palace, with curtains, carpets, sofas, beds, utensils and other household items reportedly no longer in place.
One royal clan member involved in cleaning the palace said the extent of the removal had shocked those who entered the premises.
“When we opened the palace, we found it empty. Everything has been removed — curtains, carpets, utensils, sofas, beds, just everything has been taken,” the royal clan member said.
However, there is no independent evidence establishing that the removal of every item was personally ordered by Kemigisa, or that the items were unlawfully taken. The circumstances surrounding the removal have become another point of contention in an already deeply divided royal establishment.
The reported departure of the Queen Mother from Karuziika comes as the kingdom prepares for the September 29 coronation of Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma, who is expected to reign as Edward Rukidi Nyabongo I.
The Tooro Supreme Council endorsed Kijanangoma after the Babiito royal clan succession committee selected him to succeed the late King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, who died in the United States on August 27 at the age of 34. The coronation is expected to take place at Karuziika Palace.
Palace becomes new battlefield
The condition of Karuziika Palace has now become a visible symbol of the uncertainty surrounding the transition from Oyo’s reign to the proposed new administration.
With the coronation date only days away, the kingdom faces the practical challenge of preparing the palace for the incoming monarch. Reports that the residence has been stripped of furniture and fittings have therefore generated questions about who authorised the removal, who owns the items and whether the palace will have to be refurbished before the coronation.
The kingdom has already appealed to the public to support fundraising efforts for the coronation, while preparations continue at the palace.
For critics of the Queen Mother, the empty rooms are evidence of a bitter breakdown between the late king’s family and the Babiito leadership.
Adonia Muwereza, writing on X, questioned how a Queen Mother could allegedly reduce a royal palace to what he described as a personal home and remove its contents.
“I see this as a disrespect to the culture and traditions of Tooro Kingdom,” Muwereza wrote.
But other commentators have urged the public not to turn the removal of furniture into an accusation of theft or vandalism without evidence.
Gen (Rtd) David Sejusa argued that clearing and refurbishing official residences when a new occupant takes over is not unusual. He compared the situation to State Houses and other official residences, where furniture, floors and other fittings may be replaced between occupants.
David Soita Masinde similarly cautioned against assuming that the removal of furniture amounted to wrongdoing.
He argued that furniture is a replaceable asset with a useful life and that the presence of videos showing chairs, curtains or other items being removed does not, by itself, establish why they were removed or whether the removal was authorised.
Another commentator, Lawrence, questioned whether the incoming king would necessarily be expected to use the same furniture and bed used by Oyo for more than two decades.
He also asked whether the items could have been removed as part of palace redecoration rather than by the Queen Mother for personal use. These competing interpretations have further complicated an already sensitive dispute.
How the succession crisis began
The palace controversy cannot be separated from the succession battle that erupted immediately after Oyo’s death.
Oyo ruled Tooro for more than three decades after becoming king in 1995 at the age of three. His mother, Best Kemigisa, was among the regents who helped oversee the monarchy during his childhood.
His death therefore created an unusually sensitive transition because the kingdom had to determine who would succeed a monarch who had ruled since childhood.
The Babiito royal clan eventually established a 21-member succession committee, which selected Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma as successor.
The decision, however, was immediately challenged by Kemigisa and Princess Ruth Komuntale, Oyo’s sister.
The Queen Mother and other members of the immediate royal family argued that Oyo had left a will providing for his biological son to inherit the throne if he was alive and legally recognised as the king’s son.
Kemigisa publicly questioned why the succession process had proceeded before the late king’s burial and said the alleged will should be respected.
The dispute consequently became more than a disagreement over an individual successor. It raised questions about the relationship between the wishes of a reigning king, Tooro’s customs, the authority of the Babiito royal clan and the institutions responsible for succession.
Royal clan backs Kijanangoma
Despite the objections from Kemigisa and members of Oyo’s immediate family, the Babiito leadership maintained that Kijanangoma had been properly selected.
The Tooro Elders Forum also backed the work of the succession committee and its recommendation.
Musuuga Charles Kayondo Kamurasi subsequently reaffirmed Kijanangoma’s selection and said he would reign as Edward Rukidi Nyabongo I.
The Supreme Council later endorsed the succession, paving the way for the September 29 coronation.
The Attorney General, Sam Mayanja, has also said the kingdom is at liberty to proceed with preparations because no formal appeal had been registered in court.
The development has effectively put the Babiito establishment on one side and sections of Oyo’s immediate family on the other.
Queen Mother moves out
Against that background, Kemigisa’s reported departure from Karuziika Palace assumes a much greater significance.
Reports indicate that she stepped aside as the Babiito clan and kingdom officials intensified preparations for the new king’s installation. The Babiito leadership has also publicly said that despite the succession disagreement, Kemigisa remains a member of the royal family and should be protected and cared for.
Her departure therefore does not necessarily mean that the succession dispute has ended.
Indeed, it could mark the physical separation of two competing centres of authority: the residence associated with the late King Oyo and his mother, and the palace being prepared for the incoming monarch.
The controversy over the palace contents has now added another layer to the dispute.
If the furniture and other items belong to the kingdom, questions may arise over who has authority to remove, store or replace them. If some items are personal property, their removal would be a different matter.
That distinction is important because the videos circulating online show the physical state of the palace, but do not by themselves establish ownership of individual items or the authority under which they were removed.
Race against time
With September 29 approaching, Tooro’s immediate challenge is to prepare Karuziika Palace for the coronation while containing the divisions within the royal family.
The palace must be ready to host a ceremony that will formally usher in a new reign, even as the circumstances surrounding the succession remain contested by members of Oyo’s immediate family.
The fundraising drive has added another dimension to the challenge, as organisers seek public support for the coronation and associated preparations.
For Tooro, therefore, the empty palace has become more than a dispute over sofas, beds and curtains.
It has become a powerful image of a kingdom in transition — one monarch has died, a successor has been selected, the Queen Mother has left the palace and competing interpretations of the succession remain unresolved.
Whether the removal of the palace contents was part of a routine refurbishment, a personal decision or an authorised transition arrangement remains a matter that requires clarification from the responsible kingdom authorities.
What is clear is that Karuziika Palace is now at the centre of the kingdom’s biggest question: whether the transition to the new reign can be completed without the succession dispute continuing to divide the royal family.
With the coronation only days away, Tooro is racing not only to prepare a palace, but also to manage a royal transition whose political, cultural and family tensions are far from settled.
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The before and after photos are taken from different parts of the palace, or did the Queen Mother also remove the windows and doors which are clearly seen in the before photo but are nowhere to be seen in the after photo.