Uganda's King of Tooro, once world's youngest reigning monarch, dies at 34

Oyo Nyimba, a Ugandan ⁠king who became ​the world's youngest reigning monarch when he took the crown in 1995, has died aged ​34, the prime minister of his kingdom announced on Thursday evening, local time. While Uganda is a republic ruled by a single, elected head of state, it has several traditional monarchies that preside over their respective kingdoms as they ​were constituted ‌during the pre-colonial period. Their political power is largely symbolic, but ⁠they wield enormous cultural and social influence. Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV was the King of Tooro, a small kingdom ‌in Uganda's west near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. "It is ⁠with profound sadness and a heavy heart that I announce the passing of His Majesty the Omukama of Tooro, King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi ​IV," the kingdom's prime minister, Calvin Armstrong Rwomiire Akiiki, said ‌in a post on X, late. Read moreUgandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye rushed to hospital after court collapse The king died at around 10:00pm local time on Thursday, Akiiki said, without revealing the cause of death. Rukidi IV was crowned at ‌just three years old on September 12, 1995 after the death of his fa...