BAGHDAD — The Government of Iraq (GoI) is on schedule to assume responsibility for paying all Sons of Iraq (SoI) security volunteers, and is working to pay back-wages to members of the group who are owed money due to a legislative oversight, Coalition authorities said.

“Time and again, the Government of Iraq and the Coalition have demonstrated a commitment to the Sons of Iraq through their actions, and that’s borne out here,” said Maj. Gen. John Johnson, deputy commanding general for operations, Multi-National Corps – Iraq.

Once SoI pay is on track, GoI and Coalition authorities will shift attention to transitioning the SoI into jobs.  “A recent resolution by the Council of Ministers directing placement of SoI into ministry jobs and the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) is an important signal of significant movement in the months to come,” Johnson said.  

Iraqi paymasters currently distribute salaries to SoI members in four provinces – Baghdad, Babil, Wasit and Diyala. They will add three more provinces to that list in late April, and by May’s monthly payday, the GoI will be paying all of the group’s 91,000 members across nine provinces, said Col. Jeffrey Kulmayer, chief of reconciliation, MNC-I.

At the same time, officials are taking measures to catch up on payments that were delayed in the first four provinces due to an inadvertent budgeting error. The corrective process is nearly complete in three of the provinces and is ongoing in the fourth, Kulmayer said, adding that the government should be caught up shortly after it takes on pay responsibilities in the remaining five provinces.

The payment delay resulted from changes to the 2009 budget by the Council of Representatives, the nation’s main legislative body. Those changes inadvertently left out funding for SoI salaries, delaying payments to some members of the group in four provinces by several weeks to a month, Kulmayer said.

Iraq’s executive Council of Ministers acted quickly to correct the oversight and passed a measure to pay the SoI salaries out of the Ministry of Interior’s budget. That solution will remain in effect until the Council of Representatives passes a permanent resolution to dedicate funds for the SoI, Kulmayer said.

“It does take some time to achieve these transfers,” he said, “but the Iraqis have dedicated themselves to compensating the Sons of Iraq for their work and sacrifice, and they are taking the appropriate actions.”