By Kenneth Thompson
Three former officers of the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces, RSLAF, who were compulsorily retired in May have described the defence ministry as “dishonest and wicked”. Rtd Major Brima Kargbo, Rtd Major Fallah Gevao and Rtd Lieutenant Lawrence Lahai Leema slammed their former bosses at a news conference at the SLAJ headquarters in Freetown. Major Kargbo recounted his “awful experience with the RSLAF” saying his ordeal in the military started when he was selected by the ministry’s board to serve on attachment in Liberia. He said that before his departure to Monrovia, he had been assured by the ministry that he would be receiving his allowances for as long as he served in the neighbouring country. ”Little did I realise that the assurance was a white elephant” he said. He said that after two months without allowance in Liberia, “I wrote my first letter to the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) requesting for my allowance”, adding that after several letters to the ministry the then CDS, Major General Nelson-Williams ordered that he be replaced. Kargbo said that he proceeded to seek redress with the Office of the Ombudsman who “investigated and proved beyond all reasonable doubts that I had been unfairly treated by the MOD/RSLAF”. He accused the defence ministry of ignoring the recommendations of the Ombudsman to pay him his allowances, with an outstanding balance of Le 41 million. He said his “forceful retirement” was not unconnected to the fact that he was constantly lobbying democratic institutions to help him plead with the RSLAF to pay his backlog of allowance. He was retired at 36 years. Another of the former military officers, Retired Major Gevao said that he was “maliciously discharged by the RSLAF under Section 27(a) of the Army Order Act for misconduct”. Contrary to reasons for his “sudden” discharge, however, he said comment on his certificate of service showed that he was an officer of good conduct, who had no record of misconduct in his entire military career, calling the ministry of defence ”wicked and dishonest in our retirement". He said that he was also of the belief that his retirement had come as a result of the fact that he had complained that the uniforms supplied to the military before the elections in 2012 were “of poor quality”, adding that he was arrested and placed in a guardroom for several days. He pleaded with parliament and the president to repeal the “obsolete and obnoxious” Army Order Act of 1965. Retired Lt Lawrence Lahai Leema for his part said that he found it “puzzling to get a retirement letter from the ministry of defence because there is no military in the world that retires officers at the rank of a lieutenant or at the young age of 29”. He went on to say that contrary to the official army reasons for his forceful retirement, his certificate of service showed he was an officer of “good conduct”. Explaining amid sobs and tears, Leema narrated his present predicament which he said he had been facing since his forceful retirement. “I am a student, and I also take care of both my mother and my younger sister. But now I have nowhere to get money to complete my course and to take care of them” he lamented. Quoting the same army order, he said that if an officer was discharged on grounds of misconduct, as he was said to have been discharged, such an officer should not be paid his retirement benefits. “However, I was given pittance of Le 8 million as my retirement benefit”. He added that the rules that should be followed for the compulsory retirement of an officer were not followed in their case, pointing out that “it is only the defence council, chaired by the Commander-in-Chief that has the legal power to dismiss an officer. No other senior officer has such powers, but we were discharged by the minister of defence” he said. The military spokesman of RSLAF, Col Michael Samura denied any wrongdoing by the military high command. He told Politico that the men were discharged for “indiscipline”. On Kargbo, he said the army did owe him some money for his service in Liberia but that the manner of his agitation was not allowed in the army because “it is totally wrong”. He said the army had a legal adviser that should have dealt with his matter which he said the officer did not follow. He said Kargbo also stayed away from duty and refused to deploy to the place he was assigned to. Col Samura accused retired Major Fallah Gevao of not being a first time offender. On whether he was sacked because he opposed the “poor quality” of the uniforms supplied to the army last year, he apparently admitted to it as a reason saying such was wrong. He said that even if the uniforms were not of good quality the retired major was “not the right authority to have said that”. On why his discharge certificate had “good conduct” and why he was paid money which ought not to have happened had he been guilty of misconduct, Col Samura said the army was only being “magnanimous” to all the retired officers because some of them were entitled to it. On Lt Leema, Col Samura said that it was the Defence Council, chaired by the president, that discharged the officers as only they could do so for an officer. He accused Leema of having been involved in partisan politics ostensibly on the side of the opposition in the lead up to last year’s elections. Asked why those soldiers and army officers involved in partisan politics on the side of the ruling party were also not discharged, the army spokesman said no such had been brought to their notice. © Politico 06/11/13
