OPEN LETTER FROM THE LEADERSHIP OF COALITION OF CONCERNED VETERANS
To:
The Honourable Minister of Defence.
The Honourable Minister of State for Defence.
The Chief Of Defence Staff.
The Chairman, Military Pensions Board.
1. We write with deepest respect and patriotic spirit to express our heartfelt appreciation for the vital roles your distinguished offices have played in ensuring the implementation of the new minimum wage pension adjustment and the payment of our entitlements in the past. Your efforts have not gone unnoticed, and we acknowledge your continued support for the welfare of military veterans across the country.
2. It is however with a growing frustration that we bring to your attention on the omission of the payment of the two months of January and February, arrears accrued from the just paid pension adjustment as a result of the new minimum wage implementation. Many of our members are in dire financial situations, and this delay is pushing them to the brink. We therefore, as a way of request, appeal to the Honourable Minister of Defence (HMoD) and the Honourable Minister of State for Defence (HMoSD) to urgently further initiate high-level consultations with the Honourable Minister of Finance (HMoF) to ensure these outstanding arrears are paid without further delay, appropriately, before the end of April 2025.
3. At our last engagement with the HMoF, during the protest in December, the HMoF reassured us that our palliatives would be paid promptly, acknowledging his position as the Coordinating Minister of the Economy. To date, that promise remains unfulfilled. This silence is really telling on the veterans’ continued discomfort and is becoming just disappointing.
4. We humbly wish to clearly inform you, sir, that for many veterans, this monthly stipend is the sole lifeline for them and their families. These are men and women who served this nation with honour, who now depend on what has been rightfully appropriated for their welf
