By Aggrey Baba
The Tooro royal family on Thursday gathered at St Luke Church in Ntinda, Kampala, to bid farewell to Prince David Kiijanangoma Mugabe, with mourners describing the late prince as a generous family man, outspoken defender of Tooro and a peacemaker whose death has come at a particularly painful moment for the kingdom.
David’s requiem service brought together members of the royal family, relatives, friends and government representatives to pray for the prince who died after a prolonged battle with cancer, only days after Tooro had buried its former king, Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV.
Yet amid the grief, the service also offered a glimpse into the royal family’s next chapter, as David’s elder sister, Grace Akiki, revealed the childhood name of the man now preparing to ascend the Tooro throne, and admitted that she is still struggling to stop seeing him as the little brother she helped raise.
Prince Edward Kijanangoma, who is expected to become the next Omukama following Oyo’s death, remains “Pogie” to Akiki, a name the elder sister said the family has used for him since childhood.
“I don’t hesitate to call him boy, although he is now Rukirabasaija. To me he will always be a young man I brought up,” Akiki said after the service.
She described incoming Omukama as humble, meek, respectful and deliberate, saying he does not rush into decisions and carefully thinks before speaking.
“He doesn’t take decisions easily. He does not rush. He thinks before he speaks and even rethinks after he speaks,” she said.
But while Akiki spoke about the younger brother she is preparing to address as king, much of her tribute was devoted to David, whose death has left the family facing another painful loss so soon after the death of Oyo.
She remembered David as a man with an unusually generous heart, saying his willingness to share and help others began in childhood and remained with him throughout his life.
“You can never come to him and say, Arali, today I don’t have anything. He just pulls something and gives you. That is the David I know,” she recalled as an elder sister who watched the late prince throughout his life.
Even after David travelled and lived abroad, she said, his generosity did not change.
“He used to send money for the children, for the relatives. He is one person who has a larger heart than himself,” Akiki said.
That generosity was also remembered by David’s daughter, Daniela Adyeri, who spoke emotionally about her father’s life, including the period he spent abroad and the memories she shared with him and other family members.
His siblings also remembered him as a man who loved life, enjoyed the company of people and was never afraid to share whatever he had.
But behind the outgoing and generous personality was a man who, according to his family, cared deeply about the affairs of Tooro.
Akiki described David as outspoken and unwilling to keep quiet when he believed that the kingdom or its people were being treated unfairly.
“He really spoke. He really fought. He really talked the truth,” she said.
His interventions, she acknowledged, sometimes attracted criticism or were misunderstood, but she insisted that his motivation was his love for Tooro.
“He was a voice for the voiceless. He fought a very good battle in the Kingdom of Toro for the love of his family,” she said.
Akiki also dismissed suggestions that disagreements within the kingdom contributed to David’s illness, saying he fell sick like any other person and was eventually diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus.
David’s battle with the disease was prolonged, with his family and friends rallying around him during his treatment, including at the Uganda Cancer Institute in Mulago.
His widow, Winnie Mbabazi Adyeri, told mourners that she had continued to hope and pray that her husband would recover, saying she never imagined she would have to stand before people to say goodbye to him.
She remembered him as an intelligent, kind and generous husband and father who had dreams of writing books after retirement.
“Your illness was only one chapter of your life. It was not your whole story,” Winnie said.
Kiijanangoma’s family also recalled the special love he had for his children, with Akiki saying he was particularly protective of Daniela and Meble and would go to extraordinary lengths for them.
“He loved his children to pieces,” she said.
His cousin Linda Makulima similarly remembered him as a humble and calm man who helped bring members of the extended family together when they were dealing with disputes surrounding their grandfather’s estate.
According to the cousin, David became a leader in those family discussions because of his wisdom, calmness and ability to listen.
He was described as someone who preferred reconciliation to confrontation and wanted the family’s legacy to unite rather than divide them.
At the requiem, government was represented by Brig. Gen. Henry Isoke, who conveyed President Yoweri Museveni’s condolences to the family and the wider Tooro royal establishment.
Isoke also spoke of his personal relationship with David, recalling that the late prince had contacted him over issues concerning integrity and corruption and later sought his assistance in connecting the family with the President during his illness.
He said Museveni had supported the family during David’s treatment and continued to assist following his death to ensure that the prince received a dignified farewell.
But as the family paid its tribute, Akiki used the occasion to address what she considers another critical responsibility facing Tooro, ensuring that the succession does not reopen divisions within the kingdom.
She urged the Batoro and members of the Babiito clan to unite behind Edward and reminded them that the kingdom is bigger than the royal family.
“Tooro is larger than us. Tooro is larger than everybody else who has been here, who is here, and who will come,” she said.
She was even more direct in warning against treating the kingdom as the exclusive property of the Babiito or a certain group of people.
“Nobody should say the kingdom is for Babiito or the throne is for Babiito. The kingdom is for Batooro. The king is a king of Batooro, not Babiito only,” she said.
Akiki urged everyone in Tooro to support Edward, saying the new king will need unity around him as he takes over the institution, further adding that he is going to be a very good king, and that all the Batooro need is unity.
“We should come and work with him,” she said.
Her words came as the family mourned a prince who, throughout his life, had himself spoken passionately about the affairs of Tooro.
In death, therefore, David left behind two intertwined challenges for his family, and that’s preserving the memory of a prince who believed in speaking out for what he considered right, and supporting a younger brother who must now move from being “Pogie” in the eyes of his sister to becoming the Omukama in the eyes of the kingdom. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
