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By Lebo Nkatazo

NINETEEN State House guards have refused to renew their contracts, while four others have deserted due to poor salaries, New Zimbabwe.om can reveal.

The soldiers guard President Robert Mugabe, his family and civil servants who work within the nexus of Zimbabwean power.

Senior officers at One Commando said Wednesday that the 19 soldiers where disgruntled after being awarded a 231 percent increment which raised their salaries to $8 million -- a pittance by Zimbabwe standards.

Three others are said to have deserted last year and the other one early this month. The sources added that the majority felt that in present day Zimbabwe, they should have at least be given salaries of up to $25 million.

“The soldiers are in the 23 to 33 age group. They joined the army during the DRC campaign. They have opted not to renew their papers, and like other Zimbabweans go for greener pastures,” said one senior army officer.

“All of them joined in 1998, renewed their contracts in 2001 and were supposed to renew again at the end of 2005 -- that is after seven years of joining the defense forces,” the source added.

The sources added that coupled with the poor salaries, there was shortage of food at State House, among a host of other problems.

“If you drive along Seventh Street you can see some of them without raincoats. It is now raining and the army is taking long to provide them with the raincoats despite the heavy rains,” the source added

Telephone messages left for Aggrey Wushe, the army spokesman, had not been returned late last night.
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