Summary:
- President Museveni appointed Maj. Gen. Richard Otto to lead the Mountain Division, replacing Maj. Gen. Dick Olum. Gen. Otto now heads Operation Shujaa, targeting the ADF in eastern DRC. Gen. Olum, previously in command, served in various military roles, including in Somalia and as a military attaché in the D.R.C.
KAMPALA, (Examiner) – President Yoweri Museveni, also the commander-in-chief, has appointed Maj. Gen. Richard Otto as the new commander of the Mountain Division, succeeding Maj. Gen. Dick Olum. Maj. Gen. Otto will now lead Operation Shujaa, a collaborative military endeavor between the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF) and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) aimed at eradicating the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamist rebel group operating in eastern DRC.
Maj. Gen. Richard Otto, previously overseeing stabilization efforts in South Sudan, has exchanged positions with Gen. Dick Olum. Gen. Olum took command of the Mountain Division in 2022, succeeding Lt. Gen. Kayanja Muhanga, who now heads the Land Forces.
Gen. Dick Olum, born in Zombo District, West Nile sub-region, Uganda in 1970, served as Uganda’s military attaché in the D.R.C. Prior to his current role, he commanded the third army division of the UPDF in Moroto from April 2015 to October 2017. He also led the UPDF contingent in Somalia as part of the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM). Additionally, he served as the inaugural commandant of the Uganda Junior Staff College in Jinja when it was established in 2006 and later became the chief instructor at the Uganda Military Academy in Kabamba in 2010.
