US Government Accountability Office’s Post

I wonder if military contracts are a major contributor to the inability of GAO to issue a clean audit opinion of the financial statements of the US Government in 28 years, since 1997. According to the GAO, it is “unable to provide an opinion on the reliability of the USG financial statements”, due to “serious financial management problems in DOD.” DOD has an army of +12,000 financial and cost accountants in its Defense Finance and Accounting Service agency. They are responsible for paying and reporting on the $414 billion in military contracts listed in the GAO report. It is possible that DOD accountants are reporting expenditures on contracts correctly, but GAO cannot issue a clean audit opinion because it is trying to apply inappropiate accounting standards, designed for private enterprises, to military operations. Federal accounting standards define “asset” as a “resource that embodies economic benefits or services that the federal government controls.” (SFFAC No. 5, 2007). DOD “assets” - aircraft, missiles, tanks, and national security infrastructure - are created to protect the homeland against attacks by foreign adversaries, not to generate “economic benefits or services”. Of course, some military equipment is sold to other countries, generating “revenues.” But this revenue would qualify as a footnote in the trillion-size balance sheet of the US government.

Highlight of my last week was a read-through the much anticipated Access to Information Bill, which was friday presented before parliament. A snippet of the full analysis is as follows; The big question is Does the Bill cure the mischief it sets out to? In other words, if enacted, would it significantly improve access to information for Zambian citizens and residents? ●Overall, the bill would make information significantly more accessible. Sections 3, 6, 7 and 8 categorically pronounce the right to information without equivocation. They also impose a duty on information holders to make information available proactively and on request Does the Bill create any mischief of its own? In other words, would the Act create a new harm that did not exist before its enactment? ●While The ATI Bill has internal weaknesses such as one section weakening another, the Bill does create new harm to citizens and residents. An example of this weakness is Section 31 which provides for the denial of frivolous and vexatious requests, negates Section 6, which recognises and reinforces the right to information without citizens having to give a reason or justification, or information holder agreeing with the reason for the request. ●Bill caters for disability by imposing a duty on information holders to provide information in a manner that can be used by a requester with a disability. ●The Bill promotes public interest. ● In the event that requested information includes a part that is protected, that part can be redacted, and the rest of the information provided to the requester. Weaknesses ●Some parts of the Bill negate others. 1 example is the one given above, where info can be declared frivolous in 1 section, but another says the info holder has no right to deny info on the basis of the reason he or she imagines the information is being asked for. ●Failure to define privilege in section 27 is concerning, especially since this privilege is deferred to other laws not mentioned. ●Sections 29 and 30 limit citizen's ability to hold the government accountable for ongoing activities before harm is done. Together, the two sections limit access to information during policy formulation and economic negotiations We are encouraged to engage with the Bill as it will be one of the most monumental legal reform in our time, if enacted. #ATI #AboutTime Alliance for Community Action Zambia

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