MTN Uganda has contributed Shs100 million towards the official burial of the late King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV.
The Board Chairman Charles Mbire announced the contribution on Thursday after leading an MTN Uganda delegation to the King’s residence in Buziga, Kampala, where they joined members of the Royal Family and mourners in paying their last respects ahead of the monarch’s state burial.
Mbire described the youthful monarch as a visionary leader whose legacy will continue to inspire generations in Tooro Kingdom and across Uganda.
The telecommunications company said the contribution will be channelled through the National Organising Committee overseeing preparations for the King’s interment, reaffirming its longstanding partnership with Tooro Kingdom.
“On behalf of the MTN Uganda Board, management and staff, I extend our deepest condolences to the Royal Family, the people of Tooro and all Ugandans. King Oyo diligently carried the hopes of his people, and his passing is a great loss to the nation,” Mbire said.
He said King Oyo’s reign transcended traditional leadership, noting that the monarch became a symbol of youth leadership, cultural preservation and community transformation during his three decades on the throne.
Mbire noted that MTN Uganda had built a strong relationship with Tooro Kingdom under King Oyo’s stewardship, supporting programmes in youth empowerment, sports, health, education and community development.
“Our partnership with the Obukama of Tooro reflects our commitment to working with cultural institutions to advance inclusion, talent development and progress in communities. We shall continue supporting the initiatives that His Majesty so passionately championed,” he said.
The late King, who ascended the throne in 1995 at the age of three and became the world’s youngest reigning monarch, is widely remembered for modernising the Kingdom’s development agenda while promoting education, tourism, environmental conservation and opportunities for young people.
As preparations intensify for his final send off, the Government has unveiled an extensive programme to accord the monarch an official burial befitting his status.
Addressing journalists at the Uganda Media Centre on Thursday, Minister for the Presidency Milly Babalanda said President Yoweri Museveni had directed that government fully support the funeral arrangements through a coordinated national effort involving several ministries and security agencies.
“The Government has met the cost of repatriation of the body and the medical bills. These have already been paid by the President through State House,” Babalanda said.
She said the government had taken responsibility for transporting the King’s body from the United States, coordinating official ceremonies in Kampala and Fort Portal, and providing logistical support throughout the burial programme.
According to the minister, the Office of the Chief of Defence Forces, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, together with the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs, has been facilitating meals for mourners gathering at Buziga and Karuziika Palace since news of the King’s passing broke.
“We are grateful that the office of the CDF Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba and the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs has provided food for mourners at Buziga and Karuziika since the news broke,” she said.
Babalanda added that the UPDF Engineering Brigade had been deployed to renovate facilities at the King’s final resting place, while executive vehicles had been sourced from Nairobi to transport the royal remains during the official funeral programme.
She said government had also provided executive tents, chairs, mobile toilets, public address systems, cleaning services and military ceremonial honours, including a gun salute, wreath-laying and the construction of a marble monument at the King’s burial site.
“All these arrangements are intended to ensure that the people of Tooro and the nation give His Majesty the dignified farewell he deserves,” Babalanda said.
The burial activities will be conducted across five key venues, including Entebbe International Airport, the King’s Buziga residence, Karuziika Royal Palace, St John’s Cathedral in Fort Portal and the Karambi Royal Tombs, where King Oyo will be laid to rest.
The official burial is scheduled for September 12, a date that coincides with the 31st anniversary of King Oyo’s coronation, bringing to a close days of mourning for a monarch whose reign came to embody the aspirations of the Tooro Kingdom and earned admiration across Uganda’s cultural institutions and national leadership.
