Ticking clock in retired soldiers’
Friday, September 15, 2023 | 1590 Views |

Peanuts: Ex-soldiers currently contending their measly pension benefits PIC: PHATSIMO KAPENG
Thousands of former soldiers are languishing in poverty and have long felt the weight of their new reality with paltry retirement packages. With a government largely unprepared to meet their needs, the ex-military personnel are suing those responsible for putting them in these incredibly stressful situations when they moved their pension benefits to the Botswana Public Officers Pensions Fund (BPOPF) in 2001.
Masisi, ex-soldiers
Particular trepidations lie with the seemingly embedded nature of embellishing tender sums, in most cases without the barest minimum of authority. The worrying thing is that the inflated amounts run into millions of pula across the government ministries and departments. The Auditor General’s report of March ending 2022, which we cover extensively in this edition, paints a gloomy picture on management of the government coffers. It depicts the...