The body of King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, who was recognised as the world's youngest reigning monarch, has been returned to Uganda after his death in the US last week aged 34 following treatment for an aggressive cancer. President Yoweri Museveni was among mourners who gathered at Entebbe airport to receive the coffin, marking the start of a nine-day mourning period for the Tooro kingdom. The moment is overshadowed by a public dispute over succession, as the king was not officially married and questions have emerged over a reported heir.

King Oyo ascended the Tooro throne aged three and was crowned at 18, ruling over more than two million people as the kingdom's 13th monarch since its founding in the early 19th century. His body was flown by military helicopter to western Uganda before lying in state at Karuziika Palace ahead of burial next Saturday, the date he had hoped to mark his coronation anniversary. Uganda's Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja praised him as a "symbol of unity" for his work on HIV awareness, while Tooro's Prime Minister Calvin Akiiki said the king had a young son whose identity would be revealed later; however, royal clan head Charles Kamurasi said he knew nothing of this child, prompting a public rift among senior kingdom figures that Akiiki has since urged be resolved privately.