Oct 20, 2009, 11:01 GMT
Thousands gathered to see a former nurse's aide become Ugandan king yesterday (19.10.09).
Charles Wesley Mumbere - who inherited the royal title in his African homeland when he was 13 - was finally crowned ruler as his jubilant supporters cheered and wore clothes emblazoned with his likeness.
Yesterday afternoon, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni officially recognised the 300,000-strong Rwenzururu Kingdom.
Mumbere, who wore green robes for the ceremony, said: "It is a great moment to know that finally the central government has understood the demands of the Bakonzo people who have been seeking very hard for recognition of their identity."
The new king has lived in the US for 25 years and only revealed his royal roots in July during a newspaper interview as he prepared to return to Uganda.
Mubere moved to America on a Ugandan government scholarship in 1984. He attended a business school until his homeland's leadership changed and his grant was taken away. He gained political asylum in the US in 1987, trained as a nurse's aide and often worked two jobs to pay his bills.
Mumbere inherited the royal title when his father Isaya Mukirania Kibanzanga died while leading a political group in the Rwenzori Mountains. They had been protesting against the oppression of their Bakonzo ethnic group by the then-leaders the Toro Kingdom.
The Bakonzo wanted to be recognised as a separate entity and crowned Kibanzanga their king in 1963. However, the kingdom was banned in 1967.
Mumbere led a campaign to recognise the Rwenzururu Kingdom as Uganda's seventh kingdom after the country's government decided to reinstate some of its traditional kingdoms.
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