bob_chasm

The answer may well be yes. Generally speaking, every military officer gets a plot of land at cost when he completes about 17 years of service, usually as a major. He gets another when he becomes about a colonel/ Brigadier. Then gets two as a major general. Then gets another as a Lt. General. Another as a General. I am not sure of the entitlements of a President, but I am sure the job has it's perks too. These things are like stock options for senior management in US companies. They can be worth a lot of money, depending on how civilians view property values in garrison towns (cantt).

Another thing to keep in mind is that, since the days of the British, at the rank of major general, an officer is no longer responsible for paying for rent, servants, electiricity, transportation and food etc. These people live in high security, government properties guarded at the expense of the government. Most of their salaries go straight into savings. With these savings they can purchase other properties at cost in housing developments offered by the military.

So how much are these plots worth? In the case of Musharaf, he joined the army in the 60s. In 1970s it was possible for military officers to buy a half acre parcel of land for building a house in Islamabad for around Rs. 28,000. Thats about US $600 (GBP 300). Today that property sells for between US $ 1.5-3.0 million (Rs 10-20 crore). So assuming that Musharaf legally acquired a five such properties under the plan, he would legally, be worth 7.5-15 million dollars today. Infact, not just Musharaf, but any General of the Pakistan Army. This is ofcourse legally acquired wealth and the reason why people from wealthy families in Pakistan joined the army. This was also a reason, why I think, senior army officers in the past were not tempted to take rishfat (bribes), because they knew they could make decent money at the end of their careers, legally, under a system created by the British, without embezzling money from contracts.