Monday, December 09, 2013
Two new appointments within the Armed Forces of Malta are likely to
stir more controversy following recent promotions that raised questions.
Lieutenant Colonel Karl Sammut, widely regarded as the army’s top man in information technology, has been transferred to the detention services as second in command.
Lieutenant Colonel Ian Ruggier, who has just returned from an anti-piracy mission in Somalia, has been transferred to the AFM’s finance department.
Last September four majors were promoted twice in the space of a
fortnight and leapfrogged to the second highest rank in the army:
colonel.
This prompted the Opposition to accuse the government of political
discrimination and of making the promotions without the recommendation
of the head of the armed forces.
Sources said new appointments were handed out to 25 officers two weeks ago.
Among them was Lt Col Sammut, who has been in the army for more than
23 years and has a first degree in IT and a Master’s in defence studies.
He is also one of the few to have received training abroad, after
following a 10-month staff course in Ireland.
The senior army officer had been serving as chief information officer
in the communications and information systems section for the last
eight years. His role was to liaise directly with the AFM brigadier on
issues like communications and signal and encryption services.
This section has now been closed down, following his appointment to
detention services. Instead, a decision was taken to appoint one of his
former subordinates to perform similar duties from within the AFM’s
procurement section.
Sources said the detention services section, which was reformed after
the change in government earlier this year, was earning the reputation
of a “dumping ground” for Nationalist-leaning army officers.
Colonel David Attard had resigned as head of this section in the wake
of his appointment to this position soon after the general election and
Colonel Harold Stivala was appointed as his successor.
The appointment of Lt Col Ruggier, to a desk job at the finance
section after he had led a Maltese contingent to Somalia, has come as a
total surprise, according to sources.
Questions sent by this newspaper to the National Defence Ministry on Wednesday were not answered by the time of going to print.
The issue of army promotions and appointments has been raised in
Parliament by the Opposition spokesman for the Armed Forces, Jason
Azzopardi. Meanwhile, the internal process initiated by a number of
senior officers who felt aggrieved by last September’s promotions has
been extinguished, Times of Malta has learnt.
Sources said the next step would be for the officers to file a complaint with the Ombudsman.
While the government has so far declined to divulge the precise
number of officers seeking redress, sources said that at least 15
complaints had been filed.