Dick Olum

Brigadier Dick Prit Olum, is an army officer. He currently serves as the Commander of the UPDF Contingent in Somalia, as part of the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM). He was appointed to that position in June 2013 by General Yoweri Museveni, the Commander in Chief of the UPDF and the President of Uganda. He took up his position in Mogadishu Somalia, in September 2013.

Background
Dick Olum was born in Zombo District, West Nile sub-region, Northern Uganda, in 1970.

Military career
In 2006, when the Uganda Junior Staff College, based in Jinja, was founded, Dick Olum, at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, was selected to be its Commandant. In 2010, at the rank of Colonel, he was transferred to the Uganda Military Academy, in Kabamba as Chief Instructor. In 2012, the African Union (AU), established a 5,000 strong military force, based in Nzara, South Sudan, with the specific objective of hunting down fugitive warlord Joseph Kony. The force would comprise troops from the African countries affected by the LRA mayhem, namely Uganda, South Sudan, DRC and CAR. Dick Olum, at the rank of Colonel, was selected as the first Commander of the African Union Force Against Joseph Kony. In June 2013, he was assigned to his present position and appointed "Acting Brigadier". He assumed his post in Somalia in September 2013. In November 2013, Dick Olum was promoted to full Brigadier in the UPDF.

Family
Dick Olum is married and is the father of two children.