Tooro Kingdom

When we come back, a Ugandan kingdom crowns a new royal, and his resume may not be what you expect at all.

And finally, it has most certainly not been an easy year for journalists, dissed and disrespected all over the world, even in the land of the free press and the First Amendment, but not for one TV anchor in Uganda, 56-year-old Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma, was crowned king of Uganda's Turo Kingdom this week after a succession dispute in a traditional ceremony that included the slaughtering of a bull and the sprinkling of a hen's blood.

The new royal is a familiar face in the country as longtime anchor and editor at the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation.

The king has no political power, but he will serve as an influential symbol of identity and heritage.

But his legacy lives on.

His legacy lives in us, the young people, because I come from the Tooro Kingdom.

So we are really working hard to ensure that, uh, every young person of my age, every young father and mother, at least they can tell their children about climate change.

I mean, you are an, an outstanding storyteller.

More than 4,500 US soldiers have died in Iraq since 2003.

The Iraq Body Count Project estimates that more than 200,000 Iraqi civilians have died Africa In Uganda, a former television presenter has been crowned king of the Tooro Kingdom.

Edward Rukidi Kijinangoma is the 13th monarch of the Baturo people.

The previous king, who was Kijinangoma's cousin, died in August from cancer at the age of 34.

A journalist has been crowned king of a traditional monarchy that lost its one-time boy king last month.

The death of King Oyo Nyimba last month triggered a succession dispute in Uganda's Toro Kingdom.

The journalist picked to replace him is a prince who had long been employed as a broadcaster and editor with Uganda Broadcasting Corp.

He performed rituals overnight, was ushered into the palace, and it was, and was formally unveiled to his followers today.

Mm

... about the Tooro kingdom is people have legit divided themselves.

Yeah.

There are some people who have still believed that there's a young king, and that young king is coming.

No. When?

You know-

You've never seen the Tooro kingdom fundraising for anything.

When, when, when, when Oyo became king, when his father had died, um-

Finally, he can start filming his shocking story.

We drive 300 kilometres to the west, towards Fort Porto in the Kingdom of Toro.

It's actually just a province, but with a king and a queen.

There are more of them in Uganda, but since decolonisation, their power has been taken away.

Yeah, I can proceed.

At the end of my visit to Uganda, we get the chance to finish Ntekki's story.

In a hotel in the city we have an appointment for an interview with the First Minister of the Kingdom of Toro.

Finally we can put on our Trojan horse.

[laughs]

Kanyandahe is a, a big city in Tooro Kingdom.

[laughs] You see, as people ...

As you will see, this is the problem with Andrew and why he's in trouble.

Yes.

But the reason we are here today is we are going to discuss what we call the battle for the big ...

The big battle for the throne of the Tooro Kingdom in Western Uganda, and why have the stakes have become so high on this.

This ha- It has become the biggest story in Uganda, which was very surprising because Tooro is otherwise a quiet, uh, kingdom in, uh ...

Mm.

So the Tooro Kingdom in Western Uganda was ruled by King Oyo from 1995.

He, he died in the United States last week, aged...

Now, do a little maths on this.

Before heading to the palace where he will have a special meal cooked by someone selected specifically to prepare it, he's also expected to battle with someone for the throne.

It says battle.

Uh, in the past, all the rulers of the, of the region have lived in the area, and in the history of Tooro Kingdom, no one has ever refused to take the throne.

You wouldn't, would you?