Less than a month after the death of King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, the Tooro monarchy appears to be entering a dramatically different communication era—with the new King Edward Rukidi Nyabongo I increasingly taking his royal message straight to the internet.
For a kingdom traditionally associated with palace announcements, cultural institutions, radio and television, the emerging style is difficult to miss.
The new administration appears increasingly comfortable with social media, with online platforms being used to communicate with Batooro, rally support and generate public interest in the September 29 coronation at Karuziika Palace in Fort Portal.
In simple terms, the new King is beginning to look less like the distant monarch of the old royal communication model and more like a modern social-media royal—a development that has already prompted comparisons to a king slowly becoming a TikToker.
The contrast with the late King Oyo is striking.
Oyo, who died in the United States on August 27, 2026, aged 34, ruled Tooro for more than three decades after ascending the throne as a three-year-old in 1995. During his reign, major royal and cultural events were largely communicated through established kingdom structures, the Prime Minister’s office, television networks, radio stations and other mainstream channels.
The emerging approach under Edward is considerably more direct.
Instead of waiting for traditional media to carry the palace message, the new administration and its supporters are increasingly turning to digital platforms to reach subjects and mobilise attendance for royal activities.
The timing has made the shift even more noticeable.
The kingdom is attempting to organise a major coronation barely one month after Oyo’s death, moving at extraordinary speed from mourning, burial and succession controversy to fundraising, mobilisation and preparations for a new king’s enthronement.
The Uganda Media Centre announced on September 24 that Edward’s coronation would take place on September 29, with President Yoweri Museveni expected to attend. Ugandans at home and in the diaspora were also invited to participate in the historic ceremony.
And the money involved is substantial.
The coronation organising committee has set a fundraising target of Shs925 million to finance the ceremony, which is expected to combine religious proceedings, royal functions and traditional rituals.
That figure has added another layer to the growing debate surrounding the new administration.
Earlier in September, a separate proposal for a Shs500 million appreciation fund for Tooro’s Omusuuga, Charles Kamurasi Akiiki, had emerged. The proposal reportedly included Shs200 million for a vehicle and another Shs300 million for welfare-related needs.
All this is happening against the backdrop of a deeply contested succession.
Following Oyo’s death, the Babiito Royal Clan succession committee selected Prince Edward Rukidi Kijanangoma as successor, with the Tooro Supreme Council subsequently endorsing the decision.
But the succession has faced resistance from within the royal family. Princess Ruth Komuntale and Queen Mother Best Kemigisa have challenged the decision, pointing to an alleged 2022 will which they say provides for Oyo’s biological son to inherit the throne.
That dispute has given the new monarchy an unusually complicated beginning.
Yet while the royal family battles over succession, the machinery around the new King is already moving at full speed—coronation preparations, fundraising campaigns, public mobilisation and a conspicuously digital communication strategy.
For an institution that has survived centuries, the change is more than a matter of social-media posts.
It signals a possible generational shift in how the monarchy interacts with its subjects.
The palace is no longer communicating only from behind traditional royal structures. The message is increasingly appearing on phones, timelines and social-media feeds, putting the new King directly in the digital spotlight.
And that is where the “TikToker King” comparisons are coming from.
Whether the trend becomes a permanent feature of Edward’s reign remains to be seen. But one thing is already clear: Tooro has barely finished mourning Oyo, and its new monarchy is already experimenting with a very different way of talking to the public.
From palace announcements to viral posts, from traditional royal mobilisation to social-media campaigns, Tooro’s new chapter may be as much about **how the King communicates** as it is about who sits on the throne.
As September 29 approaches, Edward Rukidi Nyabongo I is preparing to take the formal royal oath—and, if the current digital trend continues, he may also be preparing to take the Tooro monarchy deeper into the age of TikTok.
