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Uganda's new king The coronation that sparked a royal dispute · INSIGHT TODAY

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  Speaker 1: Now, take a look at this man. He used to
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  Speaker 1: read the news in Uganda, and today he's a king.
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  Speaker 1: His coronation as monarch of the Ugandan Toro Kingdom follows
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  Speaker 1: a bitter succession row that has divided a royal family
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  Speaker 1: and gripped the country, as DWS Julius Mugambo, who was
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: at the regal ceremony, explains.
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  Speaker 2: This is the coronation of a new king of Toro.
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  Speaker 2: His name is Edward Rukidi Nyabongo I. But to understand
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  Speaker 2: what this means, you need to understand what the kings
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  Speaker 2: mean to the people here. This king does not govern Uganda.
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  Speaker 2: He has no executive or political power. His role is culture.
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  Speaker 2: But the selection of King Edward Nyabongo I was not
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  Speaker 2: so straightforward because the royal family went through a series
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  Speaker 2: of disagreements on who should succeed King Oyo. With the
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  Speaker 2: Toro Queen Mother and the sister of the late King Oyo,
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  Speaker 2: dismissing Nyawongo's ascension to the throne, claiming King Oyo had
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  Speaker 2: a previously undisclosed biological son who should have been handed
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  Speaker 2: the crown instead. And the king had set this out
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  Speaker 2: in his will before he died. The kingdoms reflect pre-colonial Uganda,
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  Speaker 2: where these kingdoms and the chiefdoms offered leadership to the community.
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  Speaker 2: But now Uganda being a republic, they have the influence
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  Speaker 2: but do not have the executive power as the executive
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  Speaker 2: power belongs to the Republic. President Choweri Museveni who attended
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  Speaker 2: the coronation emphasized why he took a decision to return
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  Speaker 2: the kingdoms. He wanted Ugandans to have their sense of
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  Speaker 2: identity not compromised even when in the past, in the 1960s,
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  Speaker 2: these traditional kingdoms had been abolished. The problem was the
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  Speaker 2: hereditary leaders trying to continue with political power.
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  Speaker 3: But I could.
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  Speaker 2: See that there were very big areas of society which
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  Speaker 2: were not addressed. It was very dangerous. More than 2
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  Speaker 2: million people live in the wider Toro sub-region, and the
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  Speaker 2: Omokama is an important symbol of their shared identity, history
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  Speaker 2: and culture. The people of Toro now have a new king,
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  Speaker 2: Edward Rukidi Nyawongo I, who succeeds King Oyo Nyimba Kawambayiguru
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  Speaker 2: Rukidi IV. King Oyo ascended to the throne at only
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  Speaker 2: the age of three and for more than three decades
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  Speaker 2: he was the face of Toro until last month when
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  Speaker 2: he died of cancer in the United States where he
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  Speaker 2: was receiving treatment. This is when now his cousin was
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  Speaker 2: selected to succeed him. What is before the new king,
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  Speaker 2: Edward Nyawongo, is a big task. He comes to leadership
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  Speaker 2: at the time when his kingdom, more than half the population,
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  Speaker 2: are below the age of 30. That's a very active
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  Speaker 2: and young population with a big future. Himself will be
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  Speaker 2: 56 this December. But he has promised the people of
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  Speaker 2: Toro he will unite them regardless of their age, regardless
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  Speaker 2: of their background.
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  Speaker 3: The kingdom will inspire people to work together because united
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  Speaker 3: teeth can break the bone. And by supporting the kingdom,
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  Speaker 3: the kingdom also supports them.
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  Speaker 2: But even if the new king can unite his subjects...
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  Speaker 2: Winning the support of the entire royal family could prove
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  Speaker 2: to be his greater challenge.
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  Speaker 1: Julius Mugambwa filed the report you just saw from the
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  Speaker 1: new Toro King's coronation. He's back in Kampala now from
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  Speaker 1: where he joins me. Julius, the new King of Toro
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  Speaker 1: has been coronated as we've just seen, but the late
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  Speaker 1: King's mother says he is not the right successor and
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  Speaker 1: that there is a child who is the rightful heir
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  Speaker 1: to the throne. Tell us more.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, the Queen Mother is not a happy person. From
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  Speaker 2: having lost her dear son, King Oyo, from when the announcement,
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  Speaker 2: from when the news was broken that the king had died,
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  Speaker 2: the information of the king having left a child behind
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  Speaker 2: came out. Actually, the president of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, tweeted this.
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  Speaker 2: that he received the news of the death of King Oyo,
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  Speaker 2: but he was told that the king left behind a child. Now,
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  Speaker 2: the royal family back in Toro asked for the child.
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  Speaker 2: They wanted to meet the child, but they also wanted
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  Speaker 2: to meet the mother of the child, because it's very important,
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  Speaker 2: according to their customs, in choosing a successor to the king,
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  Speaker 2: they needed to assess the credibility of the candidates. From
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  Speaker 2: the briefing of the royal family in the Toro kingdom,
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  Speaker 2: the officials of Toro kingdom say they have not had
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  Speaker 2: the chance. They have not met the child. They do
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  Speaker 2: not know the child. They do not know the mother
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  Speaker 2: of the child. They do not even know the name
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  Speaker 2: of the child. That's what they say. But the queen
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  Speaker 2: mother insists that the late king left the child left
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  Speaker 2: a will and that child should take the crown but
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  Speaker 2: the royal family says if we do not know this
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  Speaker 2: child then we cannot make this child a successor after
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  Speaker 2: all we do not know the.
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  Speaker 1: Child right so so does the coronation close this chapter
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  Speaker 1: or is there more to come in this royal succession drama.
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  Speaker 2: I think it would be too early in one way
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  Speaker 2: for someone to say that all is closed and done. Why?
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  Speaker 2: It's because there are still open wounds. There are still
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  Speaker 2: people who are still pushing that indeed the crown belongs
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  Speaker 2: to this said child who is said to be in
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  Speaker 2: the document, in the will that we have seen on
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  Speaker 2: social media. The royal family says they do not trust
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  Speaker 2: the document and they trust the new king that they coronated.
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  Speaker 2: They ticked boxes from their position, from their point of view.
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  Speaker 2: The other side of the sale child should end and
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  Speaker 2: life continues with the new coronated king. That is why
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  Speaker 2: they went ahead with the formal arrangements. And on top
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  Speaker 2: of their selection, they involved other parties. They involved the church.
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  Speaker 2: That's why we saw the new king go into charge
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  Speaker 2: for his coronation. Then they handed over power to the king.
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  Speaker 2: And they also, most importantly, involved the state. For the
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  Speaker 2: president to be at this event, one may conclude to
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  Speaker 2: say that the state has already authenticated, has already endorsed
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  Speaker 2: the new king. And from the traditional point of view,
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  Speaker 2: the fact that he has received all his powers and
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  Speaker 2: is already at the throne, whoever perhaps will challenge him later,
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  Speaker 2: we'll see that. But from now, the people of Toro,
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  Speaker 2: they've been presented a new king. The charge has been
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  Speaker 2: presented a new king of Toro and the state has
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  Speaker 2: been presented the new king of Toro, Edward Nyabongo I.
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  Speaker 1: All right. That's Julius Mugambwa in Kampala. Thank you, Julius.