Rukidi III of Toro

Rukirabasaija Sir George David Matthew Kamurasi Rukidi III was Omukama of the Kingdom of Toro from 1928 until 1965. He was the eleventh (11th) Omukama of Toro.

Rukidi III of Toro (1959)

Claim to the throne

He was the eldest son of Rukirabasaija Daudi Kasagama Kyebambe III, the tenth Omukama of Toro, who reigned between 1891 and 1928. He was born at the Royal Palace, Kabarole, on 6 March 1904. His mother was Adyeri Damali Tibaitwa. He was educated at Nyakasura School, Kabarole, Mengo High School and King's College, Budo. He served as Inspector in the Uganda Police Force in 1926. He ascended to the throne upon the death of his father on 31 December 1928. He was crowned at St John's Cathedral, Kabarole, on 29 January 1929.

Married life

He is reported to have married five (5) wives, including:

• Abwooli Omugo
• Lady Byanjeru Kezia Bonabana, daughter of Omwami Nikodemo Kakoro, MBE, who at one time served as Prime Minister of Toro.

Offspring

The children of Omukama Kamurasi Rukidi III included:

1. Prince (Omubiito) Stephen Edgar Paul Karamagi. He was born in 1934. Attended Nyakasura School, Kabarole, King's College, Budo, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge (LLB), and Columbia University, New York, US. He worked as a diplomat, for the Uganda Government in the 1960s. In 1963, he married Margaret Semugeshi, daughter of Chief Semugeshi, of Bufundu, in Butare, Rwanda.
2. Prince (Omubiito) Ruyonga, whose mother was Abwooli Omugo. He was born at the Royal Palace, Kabarole, on 27 March 1935.
3. Prince (Omubiito) Emanuel Erasmus Ishagara, whose mother was Abwooli Omugo. Born at the Royal Palace at Kabarole on 27 March 1935. Attended St. Peter's School and St. Luke's College, Virika. On 21 December 1966, he married, at St. Paul's Cathedral, Namirembe, Catherine Rosette, daughter of Erieza Sebabi, sometime Ssabalamuzi (Chief Justice) of Buganda, by his wife, Mary Nanfuka. Prince Emmanuel Ishagara fathered three sons and one daughter:(a) Prince (Omubiito) David Kamurasi Ishagara. He was born at Nsambya Hospital, Kampala, on 11 February 1967. He attended Namilyango College and ITT Technical Institute, London (BSc). In October 1997, he married Irene N. Kasozi-Batende, at Camden, London. Together, they a daughter; Princess (Omubiitokati) Joanita Kakyo Komubaizi (b) Prince (Omubiito) Solomon Michael Okwiri Adyeri Ishagara. He was born at Mulago Hospital, Kampala, on 11 June 1973. He was educated at Busoga College Mwiri, Baruch College and TCI College of Technology, New York City (c) Prince (Omubiito) Emmanuel Ishagara Jr. He was born at Mulago Hospital on 9 September 1977. He attended Busoga College, Mwiri, Baruch College, New York and Park University, Kansas City, Missouri, US (BSc) and (d) Princess (Omubiitokati) Sandra Ishagara. She was born at Nsambya Hospital, Kampala, on 29 December 1969. She attended King's College, Buddo, South Thames College (BA Fin.). She is the mother of a son and a daughter: (i) Josh Kasozi, born on 27 April 2004 and (ii) Chauntel Grace S. Ishagara Kendall, born on 18 May 1996..
4. Rukirabasaija Patrick David Matthew Koboyo Olimi III, Omukama of Toro, from 1965 until 1995, the twelfth (12th) Omukama of Toro, whose mother was Kezia Bonabana.
5. Prince (Omubiito) Nyaika. He fathered two sons: (a) Prince (Omubiito) Charles Happy Kijanangoma, who was born in 1956. Prince Kijanangoma was killed by an associate of the Katikiro of Toro, in a public bar in Fort Portal, on 25 March 1999 and (b) Lieutenant Prince (Omubiito) Ronald Rubale, a member of the UPDF.
6. Prince (Omubiito) James Mugenyi Muzimanuki. He was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in the Uganda Army. He was dismissed from the army by Idi Amin in 1972. He became a Regent for his nephew, Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, on 26 August 1994.
7. Prince (Omubiito) Muhangura Princess Leah Ngaju.
8. Price Gilbert Mujogya son of Princess Leah Ngaju.
9. Princess (Omubiitokati) Gertrude.
10. Princess (Omubiitokati) Elizabeth Christobel Edith Bagaaya, whose mother was Kezia. She was born at Fort Portal, on 9 February 1936. She attended Kyebambe Girls' School, Toro, Gayaza High School, Wakiso District, Sherborne School, Dorset, Girton College, Cambridge (LLB in 1962), and Lincoln's Inn, London (Barrister-at-Law in 1965). She became the first East African woman to be admitted to the English Bar. She was installed as Batebe to her brother Patrick David Matthew Koboyo Olimi III, on 2 March 1966. She served as Uganda' Ambassador-at-Large between 1971 and 1973, Uganda's Ambassador to Egypt and Ethiopia from 1973 until 1974, and Uganda's Permanent Representative at the United Nations in New York in 1974. She was Uganda's Minister for Foreign Affairs between February 1974 and November 1974. She served as Spokesperson for the National Resistance Movement (NRM) in Europe, between 1980 and 1986. She was Uganda's Ambassador to the United States of America from 1986 until 1988, and to Germany and the Vatican between 2006 and 2008. She serves as Uganda's High Commissioner to Nigeria since 2008. She is the author of African Princess (1983) and Elizabeth of Toro: the Odyssey of an African Princess (1989)
11. Princess (Omubiitokati) Mabel Komuntale. Member of the Regency Council to King Oyo Rukidi IV from 1995 until 1997.
12. Princess (Omubiitokati) Joy.
13. Princess (Omubiitokati) Rachel.
14. Princess (Omubiitokati) Rosemary Kijumba Balinda.
15. Princess (Omubiitokati) Damali Komukyeya, whose mother was Kezia.
16. Princess (Omubiitokati) Kijumba Kabaramagi, whose mother was Kezia.
17. Princess (Omubiitokati) Kanyomozi, whose mother was Kezia.
18. Princess (Omubiitokati) Mpanja, whose mother was Kezia.

His reign

Omukama Kamurasi Rukidi III attended the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey in London in 1953. He was made an Honorary Lieutenant in the 4th Battalion (based in Uganda), of the King's African Rifles, from 1928 until 1930. He founded and was the Sovereign Grand Master of the Order of the Lion, Crown and Shield of Toro. He was knighted on 2 June 1962 and received several medals and commendations from the British government, Ugandan government and from the Government of Buganda.

The final years

He died at the Royal Palace, Kabarole, on 21 December 1965. He was buried at Karambi Gasani, Toro.

See also

• Omukama of Toro

References

External links