An ultimatum has been given by at least 37 ex-soldiers to the Gambia Armed Forces to pay their outstanding allowances. Retired troops from Intake 32 are requesting payment for their WOPS (widows orphans pension plan), leave encasement, and gratuity.
“We don’t understand why the army should be taking this long to pay our entitlements, especially after many efforts to get payment, including meetings with the army’s senior command. We are going to stage a demonstration if they don’t pay us within the next week. Former Lance Corporal Alieu Sowe, who represented the organization, told The Standard, “Enough is enough.”
As to Sowe’s report, the majority of the disgruntled troops left the military four months ago, having reached the rank of Lance Corporal after twelve years of service.
“We have sent delegations and visited with army top commanders three times, but they were unable to provide us with any meaningful information. They assure us that they would take care of us whenever we visit. Even if we are exhausted right now, we want the Gambian people to know the situation before we launch any strikes,” he said.
According to him, a number of other veterans who retired many years ago have not yet received their benefits.
This is against the service’s terms of reference. We want this fixed right now. For this reason, we’re giving them a week to pay us; if they don’t, we’ll plan a demonstration,” he said.
He said that the Gambia Armed Forces should cover leave benefits and WOPS, while the Treasury should cover gratuities.
According to Sowe, the army is just informing them that they are doing business, even though the Treasury has begun to pay them.
Responses
Lieutenant Lamin Sanyang, the GAF Director of Press, said that the army is not the only organization impacted by the payment delay when asked for comments. He said that the reason for the long procedure may be because retirement payments for physicians, teachers, and other professionals are presently being processed by the central government.
After serving their required twelve years in the military, Sanyang stated, members would have the choice to be discharged or re-enlist.
Therefore, there are a few steps that must be taken before they do that, such as counseling the person to find out why they want to leave and all that, but individuals may also leave freely, just as they arrived. Therefore, the unit in charge will send their files to the headquarters, where we will process them and send them to the ministry of finance for payment, if we advise them and they still choose to depart. After we submit them, we follow up to make sure they get their money, and if there’s a delay, we invite them to get in touch with us again so we can assist with their follow-up,” he said.
He advised the retired troops to wait patiently for the army to review their records.
He stated, “I can only ask them to exercise patience. We definitely appreciate their service to the armed forces, and we will always do our best to support them.”