Princess Komuntale welcomes first baby

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Princess Ruth Komuntale Akiiki of Tooro and her husband, Philip Farquaharson welcomed the birth of baby Prince Jamari Mathew Farquharson Adyeeri. Komuntale is the sister of Omukama Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV and the Batebe, or Princess Royal of Tooro Kingdom.

Omukama Oyo announced the news of the birth of the baby on his Twitter account. “I congratulate Her Royal Highness Princess Ruth Komuntale Akiiki and Phil Farquaharson upon the birth of baby Prince Jamari Mathew Farquaharson Adyeeri. I welcome my first handsome nephew to the Royal Family. May God bless both parents and the baby.”

The Queen Mother Best Kemigisa also tweeted, thanking God for the birth of her grandchild. “Glory to God for the gift of a first grandchild, baby Jamari Mathew Farquaharson Adyeeri born to HRH Princess Nsemere Komuntale Akiiki, Batebe of Tooro and Philip Farquaharson Amooti”.

Harriet Nyakake, the Deputy Prime Minister of Tooro, said that Komuntale gave birth in the United States of America where she lives with her husband.

Princess Komuntale and Philip Farquaharson got married in May 2021, years after she separated from her first husband Christopher Thomas. Thomas and Komuntale had married in a highly publicized royal wedding in Fort Portal in November 2012. Their marriage broke up after the two developed irreconcilable differences.

Komuntale’s baby arrived on the same day her father, Omukama Patrick David Mathew Kaboyo Olimi lll, was born in 1945. Kaboyo had two short reigns on the throne before he died suddenly in August 1995.

Kaboyo ascended to the throne in December 1965 following the death of his father Sir George David Matthew Kamurasi Rukidi III, but his reign was cut short by the abolition of kingdoms in Uganda in 1967. He returned on the throne in 1993 and served until his death in 1995.

The baby arrived in the same month Omukama Oyo celebrates 27 years on the throne. Oyo ascended to the throne of Tooro as a three year old on August 26, 1995, the day Olimi Kaboyo died. However, his official coronation did not come until September 12, 1995, nine days after performing the rituals of burying his father.

The news of the baby also comes at a time Tooro Kingdom is in the process to celebrate 200 years of existence. This dates back to around 1822 when Olimi Kaboyo Kasunsunkwazi, the crown prince of Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom rebelled against his father, Omukama Kyebambe Nyamutukura and annexed the southern territory of Bunyoro.

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