Ex-Soldiers On War Path

Retired soldiers of various intakes are fuming over what they claim is the non-payment of their entitlements and are even contemplating hitting the streets in protest.

The soldiers, who told DAILY GUIDE that their intakes ranged from 1979 to 1983, complained that even after the short notice served them to leave the military, they were being denied what was due them.

They are particularly peeved that their nomination to go on peacekeeping missions, proceeds from which could have cushioned them financially, had eluded them.

According to them, their pleas to be given some time did not touch the hearts of the authorities and they had to leave.

“Government has failed and lied to us,” they said, pointing out that some 1,697 soldiers had been affected by the directive.

The retired soldiers claimed they were assured of being put on the single spine salary structure with effect from January 2010, adding however that they had not been paid since the completion of their terminal leave in November last year.

The installment payment of some of the entitlements, they said, was not in their interest.

When the Director of Public Relations Directorate of the Ghana Armed Forces was contacted, he denied that there was a deliberate effort to punish the veterans, pointing out that arrangements were being made to remedy the anomaly.

The retired soldiers have however taken this with a pinch of salt since, according to them, the Forces Pay Office had earlier told them that they were going to be paid by the end of September 2011, but this, they claimed, had not come to fruition.

The aggrieved retired soldiers who pleaded anonymity said they were disappointed in the incumbent government for pretending to be serious about their interest.

DAILY GUIDE has learnt that tension is already brewing in military formations across the country over poor remuneration.

Sources said the soldiers were not happy with the Defence Minister, Lt Gen. J.H. Smith and some of their commanders, with red bands flying at various barracks, particularly Burma Camp and 37 Military Hospital, prompting the minister to hold durbars to douse the raging inferno.

Gen. Smith has also been accused of dabbling in military procurements, contrary to the rules.