Pay scandal rocks Sierra Leone Amisom mission

This handout photo released by the African Union-United Nations Information Support Team and taken on May 25, 2012 shows African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) soldiers and commanders walking down the road between Afrgoye and Baidoa after arriving in the town of Afgoye town to the west of the Somali capital Mogadishu.

What you need to know:

The Sierra Leone government has vehemently denied ‘fraudulently’ deducting salaries of its troops serving in Somalia.

By KEMO CHAM

NATION Correspondent

FREETOWN, Thursday

The Sierra Leone government has vehemently denied ‘fraudulently’ deducting salaries of its troops serving in Somalia.

The allegation was made by an unnamed serving soldier believed to be part of the 850 troops deployed as part of the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia (AMISOM).

It comes amidst tension already created by Al-Shabaab terrorist threat caused by the deployment, and the Defence ministry say the controversy sparked by a divisive journalist was meant to stifle the government`s efforts.

The soldier, whose complaints were aired on a contentious weekend talk show by David Tamba Bayoh, alleged that they were deducted $200 (Ksh16,800) in violation of the agreed terms with Defence ministry and top military officials.

He also alleged that soldiers have had to bride senior military officials to be selected as part of the peacekeeping contingent.

Defence Minister (Rtd) Major Palo Conteh called the allegations “false” and said the only deductions from the troops` salary was used for justifiable operational purposes by the government and the Defence ministry and is in line with what`s agreed with the troops.

According to the Defence ministry, $10M is remitted annually for the soldiers` salary by the United Nations which bankrolls the AMISOM operation.

Each soldier, it said, is entitled to $828 per month; that`s after deducting $100 as their monthly allowance and $200 used for “operational cost”.
US$728 is accordingly lodged in the personal accounts of the troops every month.

When they return at the end of their tour of duty, each serving soldier of the AMISOM team will be expecting a total of $1,028 in their account.

That is well over the life savings of most in the military.

To ensure a near equitable distribution of the opportunity, the defence ministry says it rotates the troops on a yearly basis.

This means the next contingent of the Sierra Leone AMISOM troops is currently being prepared for deployment early next year, according to sources.

But in the past some have complaint that soldiers who complied with monetary demands of their seniors have stayed on even when their term was over.

The aggrieved soldier also alleged that they were deprived of sufficient food supply.

The ministry said the allegations were unfounded and meant to create confusion among families of the soldiers deployed in an already dangerous war zone.

The government has been struggling to calm fears of terrorist threats over the now much criticized decision to deploy the troops in Somalia.

“The report was unfortunate and purely meant to demoralise the gains made by members of the peacekeeping operation in Somalia and efforts put together by the ministry and government to lift the flag of Sierra Leone to the top,” said the Defence Minister.