KAMPALA, September 10, 2026 — A Ugandan medical doctor, Dr Faith Nabushawo, has sharply criticised journalist Andrew Mwenda over remarks he made while explaining the controversy surrounding succession to the Tooro Kingdom following the death of King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV.
Nabushawo accused Mwenda of using derogatory and sexist language against the mother of a child alleged to have been fathered by the late king, arguing that the succession debate should focus on established cultural rules rather than attacking unnamed women.
“Mwenda, sit down,” Dr. Nabushawo wrote on X on Thursday, accusing him of dragging unnamed women “through the mud as prostitutes and housemaids.”
She argued that a woman who bears a king’s child remains the child’s mother and should not be reduced to an insult in a dispute over royal succession.
Nabushawo’s criticism followed a lengthy statement by Mwenda in which he sought to clarify his account of the events surrounding the search for a successor to King Oyo.
Mwenda said a meeting of the Babiito royal clan was held at Karuziika Palace in Fort Portal on August 28, 2026, with more than 100 princes and princesses attending. He said the meeting selected a 21-member Royal Succession Committee to identify a new king.
According to Mwenda, four candidates were presented to the committee, including a person described as Oyo’s purported son.
Mwenda said the alleged son was presented by Patrick Kawamara, whom he described as the brother of Queen Mother Best Kemigisa. He said the committee requested a photograph of the child, but none was produced.
He further claimed that the committee asked about the child’s maternal clan and was told that his mother was a Muhinda, but that details of her family in Tooro were not provided.
Mwenda said the committee also encountered inconsistencies over the child’s name, which he said was initially given as Jacob Oyo and later changed to Jackson Oyo.
“These [circumstances] made the committee find the claim dubious,” Mwenda said, adding that the purported son was consequently removed from consideration.
The controversy centres partly on whether the existence of an alleged biological son of the late king has implications for succession.
Mwenda maintained that, under Tooro custom, being the son of a king does not automatically make someone heir to the throne. He argued that the relevant customary requirements include being born to a Mutoro queen officially married to the king.
It was in making that argument that Mwenda referred to a king potentially fathering a son with “a prostitute on the street or a house maid”, while adding that he was not suggesting that King Oyo had done so.
That qualification did little to soften Nabushawo’s response.
“You said ‘this is not to suggest that Oyo did any of this’ then why say it at all?” she asked, arguing that the wording was intended to create a damaging association between the late king and an unnamed woman.
Nabushawo described the remarks as “classist”, “misogynistic” and “cowardly”, and challenged Mwenda to present the relevant succession rules and evidence rather than relying on derogatory descriptions.
“If succession has rules, state the rules. If there is a will, produce the will. If the mother must be known, demand her name and clan like an adult,” she said.
Mwenda, in his statement, said a meeting involving the Queen Mother and members of the Babiito was held at the palace on September 8. He said the Queen Mother indicated that she would not disclose information about the alleged son until King Oyo’s will was read.
According to Mwenda, the will was subsequently read by the late king’s lawyer to the same group, with additional members of the royal family in attendance.
He said the will, which he stated was written on September 14, 2022, contained only a hypothetical heir and did not automatically establish the alleged son as successor.
The succession dispute has already generated conflicting accounts over who has authority to determine the next Omukama. Earlier reports that George Desmond Kamurasi had been selected by a Royal Succession Committee were challenged by representatives of the Babiito, who stressed that a Tooro king is installed through customary processes rather than simply elected.
The dispute has become increasingly urgent ahead of King Oyo’s burial, scheduled for September 12. The government has also become involved, with President Yoweri Museveni directing Minister Henry Tumukunde to help resolve disagreements over the succession before the burial.
For Nabushawo, however, the immediate issue is not simply who eventually occupies the throne, but how the succession debate is conducted.
She urged those involved to establish the relevant customary rules, identify the alleged heir and establish his maternal lineage without turning women into targets of public ridicule.
“Leave the dead king. Leave the child’s mother. Argue the custom without turning women into slurs,” she said.
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