KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Oyo Nyimba, a tribal monarch in Uganda who ascended his ancient throne as an infant and fascinated world leaders as a boy king, has died. He was 34.
The death of the king of Tooro was announced early on Friday by Prime Minister Calvin Rwomiire Akiiki.
“The continuity of the Crown is assured,” the Tooro premier’s statement said. “His Majesty leaves behind a Prince as his heir, whose identity will be formally revealed at the appropriate time, in accordance with the traditions and customs of Tooro Kingdom.”
The death has shocked many Ugandans who didn’t know the king was being treated for an unknown illness abroad and tributes were issued Friday.
Tooro authorities had assured Ugandans that Oyo remained alive but in critical condition, forcing many Ugandans to suddenly come to terms with his death at a relatively young age.
“This is very difficult to comprehend,” Deputy Parliament Speaker Thomas Tayebwa said.
King Oyo, as he was best known, was coronated in 1995 at the age of 3 after his father’s death. He was a curious child in colorful robes and an object of adoration for his hundreds of thousands of subjects. At his coronation, he went through a series of tribal rituals and emerged as King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV.
Oyo held the unofficial title of the world’s youngest king, a mesmerizing figure even for world leaders introduced to him at national events. He led his people via regents appointed by the kingdom until he came of age at 18.
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi was one of those who befriended the Tooro royal family as if they were part of his extended family. Gadhafi made multiple trips to Uganda and supported Oyo and the queen mother for years before Gadhafi's death in October 2011.
As he grew older, Oyo was known as a quiet man who protected his privacy. Still unmarried at his death, he was widely seen as Uganda’s most eligible bachelor. In September, the parliamentary speaker pledged to pay the bride price whenever Oyo determined to get married, to which the king in his throne smiled.
Tooro is one of the ancient kingdoms of Uganda. Banned after independence from British colonial rule by a republican president who said he wanted to unify the country, traditional kingdoms were restored in 1993. Although they have no political authority and are legally not allowed to engage in partisan politics, monarchs wield authority as guardians of tribal culture.
The seat of Oyo's kingdom is a remote city in western Uganda near the Congo border. Oyo's people are known as the Batooro.
FILE - Uganda's King of the Tooro Kingdom, King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, during his 18th birthday at Fort Portal, Uganda, Saturday, April 17, 2010 as he assumed the full duties of King of the Tooros. (AP Photo/Marc Hofer, File)
PLYMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — Jurors in the Lindsay Clancy trial started a second day of deliberations Friday to determine whether she was responsible for her actions when she killed her three children in 2023.
Clancy admits she strangled her children, but her lawyer said she did it because she had lost her grip on reality due to postpartum psychosis, a rare mental illness that can follow childbirth. In the months before the killings, Clancy sought treatment for her worsening mental health, including a stay in a psychiatric hospital.
Prosecutors said Clancy knew what she was doing. They say she killed the children because she was depressed and tired of living, and made a conscious choice to take her children with her before killing herself.
The jury met for a few hours Thursday without reaching a verdict. Members of the panel could find her guilty of murder or the lesser crime of manslaughter, or acquit her if they decide she wasn't in control of herself due to her psychiatric problems.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988.
Clancy, 36, has pleaded not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility. She did not testify during the trial, but jurors heard at length from medical professionals who treated her, as well as from friends and relatives she had told about her mental health problems.
Jurors also heard from medical experts called by prosecutors and the defense who disagreed about her likely state of mind when she killed her children, Cora, Dawson and Callan Clancy, ages 5, 3 and 8 months, at their Massachusetts home.
The killings happened less than three weeks after Clancy was discharged from a psychiatric hospital. She jumped from a second-floor window after strangling the children, but survived. She remains paralyzed from the waist down.
Lindsay Clancy tries to hold back tears as details of the murder of her three children are given in court during her murder trial at Plymouth Superior Court in Plymouth, Mass., Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington holds up a picture of th Clancy family before the murders during closing arguments in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial at Plymouth Superior Court in Plymouth, Mass., Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
Assistant DA Jennifer Sprague makes her closing arguments for the jury asking them to find Clancy guilty during the Lindsay Clancy murder trial at Plymouth Superior Court in Plymouth, Mass., Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
A packed courtroom gallery listens during closing arguments in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial at Plymouth Superior Court in Plymouth, Mass., Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington makes his closing arguments to the jury in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial at Plymouth Superior Court in Plymouth, Mass., Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
