King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV of Uganda’s Tooro Kingdom has died at the age of 34.
The monarch died at about 10 p.m. local time on Thursday, according to Calvin Armstrong Rwomiire Akiiki, prime minister of the Tooro Kingdom. The cause of death was not immediately disclosed.
Oyo became king in September 1995, following the death of his father, King Rukirabasaija Patrick David Matthew Kaboyo Olimi III. He was only three years old at the time, making him the world’s youngest reigning monarch.
Although Uganda is a republic with an elected government, several traditional kingdoms continue to exist across the country. Their constitutional political authority is largely ceremonial, but the monarchs retain significant cultural and social influence within their communities.
Oyo was the Omukama, or king, of Tooro, a historic kingdom in western Uganda near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Announcing his death, Akiiki described it as a profound loss for the kingdom and said the monarch had left an heir, ensuring that the royal institution would continue.
“This is an immeasurable loss,” the prime minister said.
Ugandan government minister Balaam Barugahara had disclosed shortly before the death announcement that the king was receiving medical treatment in the United States.
News of Oyo’s death prompted an outpouring of grief across Uganda, with political leaders, public figures and members of the public paying tribute to the late monarch.
Opposition leader and musician Bobi Wine described the news as devastating and offered prayers for the king’s soul.
Oyo, who was unmarried, had remained a prominent figure in Ugandan public life throughout his reign, representing the Tooro kingdom at cultural and social events while promoting its heritage and development.
In a message marking his birthday in April, the kingdom’s prime minister portrayed Oyo as a young monarch closely connected to the people he served.
He said the king’s youth gave him energy, a fresh outlook and the confidence to envision a different future for Tooro.
Oyo’s unusually long reign began when he was a child and continued into adulthood, as he grew from a three-year-old successor into a monarch who became one of Uganda’s best-known traditional leaders.
