Major-General Richard Otto has been appointed the new head of Defence Intelligence and Security (DIS), formerly known as the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI), in a major leadership shakeup within the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF).
The appointment was confirmed on Wednesday evening by the UPDF’s acting spokesperson, Col Chris Magezi, who noted that the changes take immediate effect.
The move is part of a direct swap that sees Maj-Gen James Birungi, the outgoing DIS chief, redeployed as the Mountain Infantry Division Commander in Fort Portal—a position Otto previously held.
The DIS is the nerve center of Uganda’s military intelligence operations and plays a critical role in national security, intelligence coordination, and regional defense partnerships.
With the region facing escalating security threats, Gen Otto’s new role carries enormous weight.
“The UPDF fraternity congratulates the General officers on their new appointments and wishes them success in their new endeavors,” Col Magezi stated.
Battle-Hardened and Regionally Seasoned
Maj-Gen Otto is not new to high-stakes military assignments. His battlefield résumé includes leading UPDF forces in Somalia under AMISOM from 2019 to 2020, where he helped coordinate offensive operations against Al-Shabaab.
He also served as Uganda’s peace envoy under IGAD during the South Sudan conflict, showcasing his diplomatic touch in regional peace processes.
In addition, Otto once commanded the UPDF’s Third Division in Moroto, tackling cattle rustling and cross-border insurgencies in Uganda’s northeast.
But perhaps his most storied mission came during his time as Commander of the UPDF contingent in the Central African Republic, where he led regional efforts against the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) under the African Union Regional Task Force (AU-RTF).
In this role, Otto spearheaded operations that significantly degraded the LRA’s regional footprint, earning him recognition for operational discipline and tactical finesse.
Strategic Timing Amid Operation Shujaa
The leadership swap comes amid ongoing joint operations in eastern DR Congo, where the UPDF, alongside the Congolese army, is hunting down Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) militants under Operation Shujaa.
Until this week, Otto was both Commander of the Mountain Division and Joint Task Force Commander for that mission.
His successor in Fort Portal, Maj-Gen Birungi, will now take over the delicate command of UPDF forces stationed in the Rwenzori sub-region and the eastern DRC frontier—a key hotspot in Uganda’s regional security priorities.
The change reflects a broader effort by Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Uganda’s newly appointed Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), to inject fresh energy and battlefield-tested leadership into key UPDF commands.
With Gen Otto at the helm of military intelligence, the UPDF is likely to sharpen its focus on strategic intelligence coordination, regional threat assessment, and digital-era surveillance—key pillars in today’s rapidly shifting security landscape.
