Ex military officers have been picketing at Parliament House to press home their demand for the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) to release their unpaid allowances and gratuities.
The aggrieved ex-soldiers say they have not received their full emoluments despite writing countless petitions to the Ministry of Defence and the GAF.
Spokesperson for the group, WO1 John Teye told Joy News they have presented a petition to Chairman of Parliament’s Defence Committee and they will not hesitate to come back to Parliament if their concern is not addressed.
He said information available to the group indicates that the GAF has intentionally refused to release the monies although the Finance Ministry has released all the monies for their allowances and gratuities.
“We are reliably informed and we have documents to prove that government through the ministry of finance paid the monies to the Ghana Armed Forces, so our issue is not with government but the force.
“If they deny that what we are saying is true, we are challenging them to make public the letter written to them by the ministry concerning the pension pay”, he added.
WO1 Teye said the group is ready to apologise to the GFA if it turns out that they are not to blame for the problem.
He said the group does not understand why paying allowances of personnel should become “a secret document” because “it carries the lowest degree of precedence”.
The about 1,700 ex-service men came to the premises of Joy FM on Wednesday complaining about the about how they are struggling to survive after serving in the force.
They say they have been left with nothing after the GAF put them on “compulsory retirement.
According to them, the GAF did not follow due procedure in terminating their appointment because “we were not released, we were sacked in 1982 and 1983”.
Defence Minister Benjamin Kunbour is expected to appear before Parliament’s Defence and Interior Committee as it opens a probe into the non-payment of the soldiers’ allowances.
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