AL-MUKALLA
\nYemen\u2019s army has begun paying soldiers\u2019 salaries directly into their personal bank accounts, in what officials describe as a landmark reform aimed at curbing corruption, eliminating ghost soldiers and ending a longstanding system that allowed commanders and intermediaries to control military payrolls.
\nArmy officials and soldiers told Arab News during the past two days that troops received their latest salaries in person through local banks or money exchange firms in government-controlled areas for the first time in years.
\n\u201cThis system is excellent because salaries are transferred directly from the Ministry of Defense into each soldier\u2019s bank account, allowing them to collect their pay from any branch of the banks,\u201d Mohammed, an army soldier who asked to be identified by his first name, told Arab News.
\nFor years, Mohammed, like tens of thousands of Yemeni soldiers, received his salary through the commander of his military unit, who collected payroll funds from the central bank and distributed them to troops.
\nSoldiers have long complained that commanders deducted varying percentages from their salaries, while some individuals collected multiple salaries under different names.
\nMilitary officials and analysts have also said that \u201cghost soldiers\u201d \u2014 fictitious or inactive personnel added to payrolls \u2014 enabled some commanders to siphon off public funds.
\nOn Aug. 4, Yemeni Defense Minister Lt. Gen. Taher Al\u2011Aqili announced the end of the old payment mechanism used in the country\u2019s armed forces, declaring that all soldiers would now receive their salaries in person through local financial institutions.
\nIn posts on his social media accounts, Al\u2011Aqili said: \u201cA new mechanism has been adopted for disbursing the salaries of military units, which stipulates that salaries will not be transferred to the accounts of unit commanders or their representatives, and that they will be disbursed directly to their beneficiaries personally.\u201d
\nHe said the measures were intended to \u201cpromote integrity, establish fairness in salary payments and protect the rights of members of the armed forces.\u201d
\nBut the reform has faced resistance from some military commanders who benefited from the old payment system. According to the defense minister, certain commanders refused to implement the new mechanism, verbally attacked the military leadership, and even threatened to withdraw their forces from frontline positions in an attempt to pressure the ministry into abandoning the reform.
\n\u201cUnfortunately, some unit commanders refused to comply with these directives, and some even went so far as to insult and use inappropriate language against the leadership, while others sought to use the situation on the front lines as a pretext for pressure and blackmail,\u201d Al\u2011Aqili said.
\nAccording to a military circular shared with Arab News by a soldier, troops were given one week to collect their salaries from local banks or risk being withdrawn back to Aden.
\nArmy officials said the leadership had taken several measures in recent months to pave the way for implementing the new payment mechanism. Soldiers were first required to issue new smart identification cards and undergo biometric fingerprinting. Committees of army officers then moved from one unit to another, verifying and auditing names, and removing those of deceased, retired or wounded soldiers.
\nBrig. Gen. Mohammed Al\u2011Kumaim, an adviser to the defense minister, told Arab News that the reform aims to combat financial and administrative corruption, and promote good governance in Yemen. It also intends to reduce duplicate names and inflated payrolls, as well as end the practice of some commanders sharing salaries with soldiers, he added.
\n\u201cThis is a sound decision. I believe this mechanism should have been implemented long ago, in both the civilian and military sectors. This is a problem that the Yemeni armed forces have faced for a long time, even during the previous regime,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
AL-MUKALLA Yemen\u2019s army has begun paying soldiers\u2019 salaries directly into their personal bank accounts, in what officials describe as a landmark reform aimed at curbing corruption, eliminating ghost soldiers and ending a longstanding system that allowed commanders and intermediaries to control military payrolls. Army officials and soldiers told Arab News during the past two days […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-561080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n