Retired Soldiers Cry Out Over Salaries

Francis Xavier Tuokuu

A retired officer of the Ghana Armed forces, Lt. Col. John E. Sharpe has bemoaned the pitiable conditions he and 322 of his colleagues have been subjected to, saying even though he loves Ghana; he wondered whether it is worth dying for ones motherland.

Lt. Col. Sharpe who spoke with The Al-Hajj in an exclusive interview last Monday on a variety of issues of national importance said many of his colleagues’ names were removed from the government pension payroll without any apparent reasons.

Some of the affected officers he said are currently admitted at the hospitals with various life threatening ailments and if the problem is not immediately solved, it can lead to their early departure from this earth due to the emotional and psychological trauma they are going through.

“I have served this country in many ways and have suffered politically. Many of my colleagues have not been paid their pension benefits and I cannot sit down and allow this to continue. We in Ghana don’t take good care of our retired military officers despite their selfless service to the nation”, he stated.

He showed a list of all the affected officers who have not been paid for many years including 824 unpaid widows to The Al-Hajj.

Lt. Col. Sharpe also complained bitterly about how some officials are keeping vital information that could lead to the arrest of known criminals in our society.

According to him, he had information that some manufacturers at Kpone were dealing in cocaine which he subsequently informed officials at Castle Annex who refused to take the matter on.

He said since they refused to act on it, he decided to report it to the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI) who promised to take action.

Lt. Col John E. Sharpe, a onetime active sportsman himself and a sports administrator said Ghana is being re-colonized through sports as our European counterparts are dictating to us in many of the sporting disciplines.

He mentioned a man who came from London and pretended to be recruiting kick boxers which failed miserably as he did not have the competence. He said the man was later arrested for overstaying his visa and while in police custody, an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs instead of deporting him rather went to bail him.

He said it was a worrying situation that people are using sports to engage in acts of indiscipline and visa fraud which led to the ban of Ghanaian martial arts in Denmark.

He called for the investigations of such issues by all stakeholders in order to salvage the image of sports in the Ghana. He said amateur boxing as well as other sporting disciplines is gradually dying.

The retired soldier couldn’t end the interview without delving into politics to buttress his claim of Ghana sinking fast into re-colonization.

He said when the government issued a statement boycotting all Multimedia platforms recently, instead of the company negotiating with government to end the impasse; they decided to turn to Europe (BBC) for support. “When will Ghanaians know they are independent”? He asked rhetorically.

Lt. Col. Sharpe (Rtd) said morality has been thrown to the dogs of this country adding that truth has been given different colour and greed has taken over our country and many people are now interested in acquiring wealth instead of serving the nation.