The Mozambican armed forces (FADM) have denied claims that the United Nations is paying the government 1,000 US dollars for each of the 200 Mozambican soldiers who are part of the African Union peace keeping force in Burundi. An anonymous letter, from someone claiming to be a Mozambican soldier stationed in Burundi, was published on Tuesday in the independent newsheet "Mediafax", alleged that the troops are poorly paid and disrespected. The nameless writer alleged that the UN pays the government 1,000 dollars for each soldier, but that the government is pocketing most of this, and only sending 150 dollars per soldier to Burundi.
But cited in Thursday's "Mediafax", the FADM's commander of logistics, Maj-Gen Teofilo Joao, categorically denied that the UN was making any such payments. Joao said the subsidies paid to the Mozambican troops in Burundi vary between 150 and 450 dollars a month, depending on rank, and come from the Mozambican government, not from the UN. The UN does pay a small subsidy - which works out to about 1.28 dollars per soldier per day. These subsidies are in addition to the soldiers' normal wages, which continue to be paid in full in Mozambique, in local currency. Nor was it true that the troops in Burundi have been "reduced to beggars", as the anonymous letter alleged. Joao said the soldiers have a right to a series of privileges stipulated in the agreement between the government and the UN. These include food, accommodation, transport and medical care. The UN, Joao added, has promised to reimburse the government for its costs at the end of the Burundi mission. Initially, the mission was to last just one year, but there is a possibility that it will be renewed for six monthly periods. |