Bunyoro king airlifted to Kampala for treatment following court order

Bunyoro King (Omukama) Solomon Gafabusa Iguru I arrived by a presidential helicopter in Kampala on Thursday and started treatment in the capital, the kingdom said.

The development follows an October 3 Hoima High Court order that “the king should be taken for specialized treatment in India or any other hospital in the world with the best facilities.”

On Thursday, Bunyoro Prime Minister Andrew Byakutaga said President Museveni had on October 14 sent his personal doctor to assess the health of the king at his Karuziika Palace in Hoima City.

“The president’s doctor found the king stable but having flu and cough,” he said.

Byakutaga did not specify if there was further diagnosis on Thursday but indicated that the king began "better medication" at an undisclosed hospital in Kampala after a deterioration in his condition.

“When the cough intensified, the Omukama’s office linked the king’s personal physicians to the president’s office, who promptly dispatched his helicopter to airlift the king for treatment,” he revealed in a press release.

Arriving at Kololo Airstrip, Bunyoro's 49th ruler was accompanied by Queen (Omugo) Margaret Karunga Adyeeri, a royal and presidential medical team, minister of palace affairs Prince Richard Kitehimbwa and security officers.

Subjects, including people in Bunyoro's royal circles, believe the monarch has not been fully performing his duties from around 2014 due to perceived ill health.

"The king regularly receives medical attention whenever need arises. He has medical personnel that attend to him on a 24-hour basis daily," Byakutaga maintains. 

Social and political observers in Bunyoro have cited the king’s alleged decade long frailty as cause for recent tensions between the Byakutaga leadership and top members of the Babiito royal clan, who in September announced a rival cabinet.

Mid-September, the rival cabinet swore in veteran politician and former government minister Dr Baltazar Kasirivu Atwooki as its premier in a move condemned by Byakutaga. 

On October 3, 2024, Hoima High Court Judge Jesse Byaruhanga ruled in favour of an application from 10 years ago by former Bunyoro tourism minister Prince Apolo Kisoro.

Kisoro, a former personal assistant to the reigning monarch, sought an order to fly Omukama Iguru I abroad for treatment.

Kisoro noted that the king had remained ill for over 10 years, even as he (Kisoro) had secured appointments for the monarch with different hospitals in New Delhi, India.

Byakutaga responded denouncing Kisoro for being an imposter.

“The king’s family and our legal team will handle this matter. However, Kisoro is an imposter, and he forged the will of the omukama, and declared himself as the next king for Bunyoro,” Byakutaga told Monitor.

About Omukama Iguru I

June 11, 2024, marked 30 years since Omukama Iguru I was crowned.

He is considered the 49th king of Bunyoro Kingdom but the 27th monarch under the Babiito (clan) dynasty.