Gen Otto replaces Gen Dick Olum as Operation Shujaa commander

While Otto adds grit to the assaults on ADF, Olum is expected to play a big role as the restive South Sudan heads into a crucial election period.

President Museveni has swapped Major-General Dick Olum with Major-General Richard Otto as Commander of the Mountain Division and in effect the Operation Shujaa in eastern DR Congo, with the former going to the South Sudan Stabilisation Mechanism.

The changes were confirmed by Col Deo Akiiki, the defence and military deputy spokesperson, in a brief statement to the media on Monday morning.

It comes barely a week after the Chief of Defence Forces, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, visited met his counterpart from DR Congo, Gen Christian Tshiwewe Songesha, in the eastern DR Congo town of Kasindi.

The engagement sought to conduct routine discussions between the UPDF and FARDC, aiming to evaluate the progress of Operation Shujaa.

The military operation was initiated by forces of DR Congo and Uganda to fight rebels belonging to the Allied Democratic Front (ADF), who keep sneaking into the country to cause mayhem.

Gen Olum replaced Lt Gen Kayanja Muhanga as Operation Shujaa commander in October 2022, returning the battle-hardened West Niler to the frontline after service in the Ugandan embassy in Kinshasa as defence advisor.

Uganda is primed to extend the mandate of Operation Shujaa and the changes by the President, who is also the Commander in Chief of the armed forces, is expected to bolster both axis of the deployment.

While Otto adds grit to the assaults on ADF, Olum is expected to play a big role as the restive South Sudan heads into a crucial election period.