‘We want our money’

MATSAPHA – Retired soldiers want an audience with the King seeking redress on money they were allegedly underpaid after retirement.

Over 200 retired soldiers are members of the Association of Retired Soldiers, which was formed around 1997 to assist them in their welfare. They had a meeting yesterday at St. George’s Barracks where they contemplated the way forward.

The retired soldiers revealed that they have already sent a message in readiness to meet the King anytime.
“This is why we meet every month to remind ourselves that the King may call us anytime,” said the former soldiers.

Association president, Mabho-dweni Ntshingila said they were losing patience because they had been getting mixed responses from the Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force (USDF).
Ntshingila said some of their members have since passed on and did not receive what was due to them in full.

“We received some of the money as gratuity when we left but the retirees feel they have not been paid all that is due to them in full,” said Ntshingila.
He described the welfare of some of the retirees as having reached a desperate situation and that this would make them vulnerable to corruption.
Ntshingila warned that the retired officers are just the same as soldiers who are still actively employed.

He said the army should help speed up the payment of remaining funds as they feel that they were robbed of their pension.
Ntshingila said that when they approached USDF, they were told that only those who had retired after 2007 would be assisted.

He alleged that the soldiers suspect that their funds were mismanaged within the army and wondered why those before 2007 would not be paid the same amount.
Madoda Nxumalo, the acting USDF Public Relations Officer said there is nothing sinister about the pension that the retired soldiers were paid. Nxumalo said the formula used for the calculation of pension after 1994 was not just unique to the army but to all civil servants.

The army PRO revealed that even senior soldiers who retired just around 1994 were paid less than soldiers in the lowest ranks of private.
“This has nothing to do with the army. It’s not like we are holding on to their money. We have no control over that,” said Nxumalo.

He said the figure at the time was calculated over a period of 12 months and that the amount would seem smaller compared to today’s figures. Nxumalo said the formula later changed and that the pension was calculated over a period of 24 months. He said that because of this, one whose amount is calculated over 24 months is likely to get more money.

“The trend is similar throughout the civil services. It’s not just the army,” said Nxumalo.

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