SIGAR Report - ANA Payroll

The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction has published a report entitled "Afghan National Army: Millions of Dollars at Risk Due to Minimal Oversight of Personnel and Payroll Data", SIGAR 15-54 Audit Report, April 2015. This report was sent to Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, General Lloyd Austin (Cdr CENTCOM), and General John Campbell (Cdr Resolute Support). The report provides four recommendations to include a daily sign in roster for the ANA with identification numbers, that the MoD use electronic means to track attendance and payroll records above the Corps by 2017, that they develop an MoD verification methodology, and develop written procedures for verifying ANA personnel and payroll data. Presumably these steps will provide oversight on where our money is going, reduce the amount of "ghost soldiers" who are getting paid, and eliminate some of the rampart corruption taking place within the senior ANA ranks. Sounds like the Resolute Support advisors working in Essential Function 1 and Essential Function 4 have their work cut out for them. The report finds that:

"Despite 13 years and billions of dollars in salary assistance to the Afghan government for the ANA, there is still no assurance that personnel and payroll data are accurate. Although the U.S. and Afghan governments have been working to develop effective ANA personnel and payroll processes, those processes continue to exhibit extensive internal control deficiencies".
"SIGAR found that Essential Function 4 (and prior to January 2015, CSTC-A), relies on the MOD and ANA to collect and accurately report ANA personnel and payroll data. However, the ANA's process for collecting unit-level attendance data, upon which all ANA personnel and payroll data is based, has limited oversight and weak controls, and is not consistently applied across ANA locations"

www.sigar.mil/pdf/audits/SIGAR-15-54-AR.pdf