The Tooro Kingdom royal family has been plunged into fresh mourning following the death of Prince David Kijanangoma Araali, who passed away on Tuesday morning.The 47-year-old prince succumbed to Stage Three throat cancer at the Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI) in Mulago, Kampala, where he had been undergoing specialized medical treatment. 

Prince David’s passing marks an unprecedented period of grief for the royal family, coming just days after the kingdom laid his cousin, the late King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, to rest at the Karambi Royal Tombs on Saturday.

 The tragic sequence of events has unfolded amidst a massive royal transition. Following King Oyo’s recent demise, the Babiito royal clan’s succession committee selected Prince David’s younger brother, Prince Edward Kijanangoma (Edward Rukidi Nyabongo), to be the next Omukama (King) of Tooro. 

Prince David had been quietly battling throat cancer for more than a year, with his condition deteriorating sharply earlier this year. In April 2026, his family and close associates made a public financial appeal for Shs 700 million to airlift him to India for specialized oncology treatment after exhausting his personal savings on local chemotherapy sessions at Nakasero Hospital and Mulago. Prince David Kijanangoma leaves behind a highly prominent and defining legacy in modern Tooro politics. He earned the moniker "rebel prince" in 2015 when he openly challenged King Oyo’s administration. Accusing King Oyo of absenteeism, neglecting the kingdom, and allowing the Queen Mother Best Kemigisa to mismanage royal affairs, Prince David famously occupied the historic Rwengoma Palace and declared himself the rightful king. The high-stakes standoff triggered a bitter division within the royal household, prompting state security and legal interventions. The dispute was permanently put to rest in 2019 when Prince David formally reconciled and made peace with King Oyo. He was the son of Paul Kijanangoma and a grandson of the revered Tooro monarch, Omukama Sir George David Rukidi III. His other brother, Prince Charles Happy Kijanangoma, was brutally assassinated in Fort Portal back in 1999.