Omukama Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV was buried on Saturday, 12 September 2026, on the exact anniversary of the day he ascended the Tooro throne 31 years earlier.

On 12 September 1995, a three-year-old prince was installed as Omukama following the death of his father, King Patrick Matthew Kaboyo Olimi III. The young monarch became one of the world’s youngest reigning kings and went on to rule Tooro for more than three decades.

Thirty-one years later, on the same calendar date, thousands of mourners gathered in Fort Portal to bid him a final farewell. The coincidence has added a deep emotional weight to the burial, with many Batooro reflecting on a life that began and ended on the same day of the year.

The Queen Mother, Best Kemigisa, and other royal family members joined cultural leaders, government officials and ordinary citizens in marking both the end of an era and the remarkable symmetry of the late King’s journey.

For many who watched him grow from a child king into an adult monarch, the date serves as a poignant reminder of the full circle of his reign.