A TikTok post claiming to show Uganda's Chief of Defense Forces, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, at the burial of Tooro King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru IV is false. The post was published on 9 September 2026, when the kingdom was mourning the death of the king who succumbed to cancer in August of the same year. The clip shows Kainerugaba accompanied by Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa.
The video, which bears the Luganda text, "Gen Muhoozi arriving at the burial of King Oyo together with his wife," was shared widely on social media. However, a Google reverse image search using screenshots from the video reveals that Kainerugaba was actually arriving at the burial of Cedric Babu, the vice chairman of the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU), on 7 June 2025.
Further investigation confirmed that Kainerugaba attended Babu's burial with his wife Charlotte, dressed in attire similar to the one in the claim video. In contrast, a search to ascertain whether he attended Oyo's burial returned no confirmatory results. Oyo's burial was streamed live on UBC TV, and Kainerugaba was not seen.
The PLU has banned its members from getting involved in Tooro kingdom's succession issues. The kingdom is set to crown a new king on 29 September 2026. Members of the Kainerugaba-led political pressure group were involved in burial preparations that took place on 12 September 2026 at Karambi in Fort Portal, as well as the subsequent succession dispute.
Tayebwa delivered President Yoweri Museveni's message at Oyo's burial and wore different attire from that shown in the claim video. The misinformation was debunked by PesaCheck, a fact-checking organisation that partners with Facebook and similar social media platforms to sort fact from fiction.
PesaCheck's investigation was led by fact-checker Flavia Nassaka and edited by senior copy editor Mary Mutisya and chief copy editor Stephen Ndegwa. The article was approved for publication by PesaCheck managing editor Doreen Wainainah. PesaCheck is East Africa's first public finance fact-checking initiative, co-founded by Catherine Gicheru and Justin Arenstein.
The fact-checking organisation seeks to help the public separate fact from fiction in public pronouncements about the numbers that shape our world. PesaCheck tests the accuracy of media reportage and focuses on pronouncements about public finances that shape government's delivery of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) public services.
Key points
- The viral video showing Uganda's army chief, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, at the burial of Tooro King Oyo is false.
- The video actually shows Kainerugaba at the burial of Cedric Babu, the vice chairman of the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU), on 7 June 2025.
- PesaCheck debunked the misinformation, which was shared widely on social media, including TikTok and Facebook.
