A senior officer in the Uganda People\u2019s Defence Forces (UPDF), Major General Richard Prit Olum commonly known as Dick Olum is under fire after a video of him participating in a ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) campaign rally went viral online.
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Gen. Olum, who currently commands the South Sudan Stabilisation Mechanism, an observer force responsible for monitoring regional peace agreements, was captured on camera dancing alongside NRM Secretary General Richard Todwong and State Minister for General Duties Justine Kasule Lumumba.
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The event took place in Zombo District, West Nile, where President Yoweri Museveni was campaigning over the weekend. The footage, which shows Olum in full military uniform, has sparked public outrage and raised questions about the politicisation of the army.
Public Outcry and Calls for Disciplinary Action
Human rights activists and political commentators quickly condemned the general\u2019s participation in partisan politics.
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Dr. Sarah Bireete, a prominent human rights advocate, wrote on social media: \u201cMaj Gen Dick Olum needs to leave the partisan NRM campaign trail and should possibly face a court martial for violating the Constitution, the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act (PPOA), the UPDF Act, and Uganda\u2019s electoral laws.\u201d
Observers argue that Olum\u2019s actions represent a clear breach of constitutional principles. Article 208(2) of the Ugandan Constitution explicitly states that the UPDF \u201cshall be non-partisan, national in character, patriotic, professional, disciplined, productive, and subordinate to civilian authority.\u201d
Concerns Over Military Neutrality
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Critics say that the incident reflects a growing erosion of institutional neutrality in Uganda\u2019s security forces.Political commentator Jimmy Kiberu remarked, \u201cThere is no institution that has not been affected by Musevenism. The UPDF is a partisan army.\u201d
This latest controversy adds to a series of concerns over the military\u2019s involvement in politics, especially as the country moves closer to the next general elections.
A Broader Pattern of Institutional Partisanship Maj. Gen. Olum\u2019s case follows a similar controversy involving the Uganda Police Force.
Recently, the Deputy Regional Police Commander for Greater Masaka, Annabella Nyinamahoro, was filmed campaigning for NRM candidate Haruna Kyeyune Kasolo while in full police uniform. In the video, Nyinamahoro is heard telling voters, \u201cYou people are lucky to have a candidate like Kasolo, who represents Central Uganda on the NRM Central Executive Committee.\u201d
Police spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke confirmed that internal investigations had been launched into her conduct, stressing that such behavior undermines the professionalism and neutrality expected of the force.
The participation of senior security officials in partisan political activities continues to raise alarms among civil society groups, who warn that such acts erode public confidence in Uganda\u2019s democratic institutions.
Whether Maj. Gen. Dick Olum faces disciplinary action or not remains to be seen, but his appearance on the campaign trail has reignited debates about the military\u2019s role in Uganda\u2019s political landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Author: Justinmind HARERIMANA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A senior officer in the Uganda People\u2019s Defence Forces (UPDF), Major General Richard Prit Olum commonly known as Dick Olum is under fire after a video of him participating in a ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) campaign rally went viral online. Gen. Olum, who currently commands the South Sudan Stabilisation Mechanism, an observer force responsible […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1414,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/africadiplomacy.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/africadiplomacy.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/africadiplomacy.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africadiplomacy.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africadiplomacy.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1413"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/africadiplomacy.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1415,"href":"https:\/\/africadiplomacy.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1413\/revisions\/1415"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africadiplomacy.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/africadiplomacy.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africadiplomacy.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africadiplomacy.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}