How Museveni's ADC's long absence caused problems for SFC boss, Maj.Gen Don Nabasa

President Museveni who is also the commander in chief of the armed forces for Ugandan on Tuesday evening replaced Maj.Gen. Don Nabasa as the Special Forces Command (SFC) commander.

According to the UPDF spokesperson, Brig.Richard Karemire, Nabasa is set to attend a strategic course at the National Defence College and he therefore had to relinquish his position to attend the course.

“This is part of the UPDF professionalisation through training and adding more knowledge,”Brig.Karemire said.

The Nile Post has however learnt that the man who has risen through the ranks from a platoon commander to commanding the country’s Special Forces unit, was replaced because he did not inform the president in time that his Aide-de-Camp (ADC), Lt Col David Koch had completed his course and needed to be redeployed.

Koch has been off duty for over three months attending a course at the Junior Staff College in Jinja together with a group of other 70 officers from UPDF and Burundi Defence Forces.

Insider sources have that the president was "angry" that Koch had completed his course and was home relaxing yet he needed his services.

“The President didn’t know Koch was done with his course until when he recent called to check on him and during the conversation he (Museveni) was told he (Koch) was home relaxing and refreshing from the course," the source added.

The sources said a shocked Museveni asked how he was never told of the development and ordered that Nabasa be replaced for “keeping such news not known to him”.

“The President that very evening issued the order of replacing Nabasa and also ordered Koch to return as his bodyguard.”

The stand-in bodyguard was then asked to stand down for Koch.

Maj Jimmy Omara, the SFC spokesperson, contested this narrative.

Omara told The Nile Post that Maj Gen Nabasa had been replaced solely because he was going  for a course at the National Defence College, China.

"First, the course is a prerequisite for a general officer and at his level as a commander of a service. Secondly, just like people upgrade in the public service, it's not any different from the UPDF. UPDF as well as SFC values training, it's the basis of our journey of professionalisation of the army," Omara countered.

Koch first made his public appearance since return on Thursday during the reading of the national budget at Serena Conference centre in Kampala.

Museveni’s love for loyal Koch

Though he has never mentioned it publicly, President Museveni likes his soft spoken Aide-de-Camp for being loyal to him.

Lt Col Koch has been Museveni's chief bodyguard for seven years since December 2012 when he replaced Lt.Gen.Wilson Mbasu Mbadi .

Museveni in January 2018 visited Koch’s home in Bunga Raa village, in Nwoya district to attend the memorial mass of Prince Bernard Richard Olanya Lagony, the deceased father to Koch.

The President said the peace enjoyed in Northern Uganda was contributed by people like Koch’s father who sacrificed their lives.

“We are here to remember the sacrifice of a teacher who was killed in a cowardly way when he was working for peace,”Museveni said.

Koch’s father and one Okot Ogoni, who were peace emissaries were abducted by Kony’s rebels and killed on June 10, 1996 at Pagik village, Cwero sub-county in Nwoya district.