In Summary
Mr Kiyonga says govt is working on ways to clear the outstanding debt.
Government owes army veterans Shs1 trillion, the minister of Defence told Parliament yesterday. Responding to a query from Kalungu County MP Vincent Sempijja, Mr Crispus Kiyonga told the House that the government is grappling with a huge backlog of debts due to retired and deceased army officers.
Mr Sempijja asked the minister to inform the House on the types of benefits army veterans are entitled to, the procedure of claiming for the benefits and the efforts being made to pay the veterans their outstanding benefits.
“Over the years many soldier shave passed on, many have retired and many are owed huge sums of money. Government continues to make recommendable effort to ensure that the backlog is finished. The cause of this backlog is lack of money,” Mr Kiyonga said.
“The policy now in the government is to make sure that the backlog doesn’t grow. Anybody who retires now gets what's due to them.”
Complaints
Over the years, there have been complaints about the government’s failure to compensate army veterans, and the long and tedious process involved in accessing monies, especially in times when families try to get money for deceased relatives.
Mr Kiyonga, however, told the House that the Ministry of Defence is working with their counter parts in the Public Service to streamline the process.
“In 2010, a special countrywide exercise was taken to clean the data base to be used in working out benefits,” he said.
He further said that a computerised system has been worked out to ensure that time of retirement is predictable.
In explaining the benefits the veterans are entitled to, Mr Kiyonga told the MPs that some of the benefits include the computed pension and gratuity, which he explained was a lump sum payment made once at the time of discharge of a soldier who had given service for at least nine years at the time of retirement.
iimaka@ug.nationmedia.com
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