The U.S. may be paying the salaries for Afghan Government 'ghost workers'

The United States may be paying “ghost workers” in Afghanistan with some of the $1.2 billion in payroll funding it provided for that nation’s security forces, according a federal auditor. 

Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John F. Sopko said in a letter to three U.S. commanders in Afghanistan last month that the United States may be “unwittingly helping to pay the salaries of non-existent members of the Afghan National Police (ANP).”

The problem isn’t new. A 2011 SIGAR report said Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry could not determine the actual number of personnel that work for the Afghanistan National Police or confirm that only working personnel for those forces had been paid.

Similarly, a 2007 report from the Pentagon said Iraq’s Defense and Interior ministries had identified a problem with ghost soldiers and police who existed only on paper. 

Sopko said he has launched an audit of the personnel and payroll data for Afghan security forces. “If there is significant ghost payrolling or other mismanagement of these funds, it is not only a waste of money, but reliance on inaccurate ANP numbers could undermine U.S. transition planning as we continue to withdraw troops from Afghanistan,” he said.

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