Kampala, Uganda | ENTEBBENEWS.NET & URN | The Tooro Kingdom has revealed that King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV is critically ill and asked the public to pray for him.
In an official communication from Tooro Kingdom Prime Minister, Calvin Armstrong Rwomire Akiiki, following a wave of speculation on social media about the health of the 34-year-old king, he said that King Oyo is alive but in a critical condition.
“This is to inform you that His Majesty King Oyo is currently in a critical condition,” Rwomire said. He appealed to the people of Tooro, friends of the kingdom and well-wishers around the world to keep the King in their thoughts and prayers at what he described as a “difficult and deeply concerning time”.
“We understand the concern and anxiety that news of this nature will naturally cause, but we ask for calm, restraint and respect for His Majesty and the Royal Family,” he said.
Earlier URN reporters who visited the Tooro Kingdom headquarters in Fort Portal were unable to access the premises after security guards said the offices had been closed to the public ahead of the King’s coronation anniversary.
The kingdom has not provided details about the illness or where the King is receiving treatment. Rwomire said official channels of the Tooro Kingdom would provide updates on the King’s condition as and when appropriate, while urging the public to stand together in prayer for the monarch.
The uncertainty comes as Tooro prepares to mark King Oyo’s coronation anniversary, an event that ordinarily attracts cultural leaders, political figures and thousands of subjects and visitors to the kingdom.
