Furore over peacekeepers' Allowance

The Acting Director of Public Relations of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), Colonel Emmanuel Nibo, has stated unequivocally that no personnel of the GAF who is on a peace- keeping mission, collects a daily allowance of $160.00, reports the private owned bi-weekly, The Crusading Guide. "It is not true that the United Nation (UN) pays each soldier on peace-keeping operations $160.00 per day as allowance".

The Acting Public Relations Director was reacting to a claim by an anonymous caller last week Thursday who claimed that there was a great deal of confusion at the Burma Camp stemming from the inability of the government to fulfill its campaign promise regarding the allowance of peace-keepers.

Some one who claimed that he was a soldier at the Burma Camp telephoned the office of The Crusading Guide last weekend told this reporter that some soldiers were very apprehensive about the increase of the take-home daily allowance of a soldier on peace-keeping mission, from $16.00 to only $20.00 as announced by the Government on Wednesday, March 28,2001.

According to the anonymous caller, the UN pays each soldier $160.00, out of which the previous government was giving the soldier only $16.00 to take home. He could however, not explain in clear terms when the remaining amount ($144.00) was used for.

He continued that during the electioneering campaign, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) promised to give each soldier on peace keeping operation about 50% of the amount ($160.00) but the increase from $16.00 to $20.00 did not represent 50% and so they (soldiers) were disappointed and as a result, were making a lot of noise at the Camp.

It will be recalled that during the recent 53rd anniversary of the 28 February 1948 shooting incident, the vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, said that the peace-keeping allowance would be reviewed. Consequently, it was reviewed upwards last week Wednesday.