NLA staff cautioned to desist from lottery business
The Director General of the National Lotteries Authority (NLA), Mr Kofi Osei-Ameyaw, has cautioned that any staff of the authority who gets directly or indirectly involved in lottery business will be dealt with ruthlessly according to the law.
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He stated that the rules governing national lotteries prevented staff of the authority from taking part in lottery business and warned that the authority would soon commence investigations to flush out such elements.
Mr Osei-Ameyaw gave the caution when he met with more than 300 members of the Lotto Marketing Companies and Retailers Association in Kumasi and in reaction to complaints by the members of the association that some staff of the NLA had been conniving with operators of Banker-to-Banker in their work.
He added that “if investigations reveal that any staff of the NLA is involved in lottery activity, that person will be dealt with ruthlessly according to the law.”
He made it clear that the NLA had not licensed any Banker-to-Banker businesses and that they remained illegal but what the authority had done was to provide them an opportunity to register so that their numbers would be known and their operations made to conform to laid down regulations.
“The fact that we don’t know the total number of those involved in the illegal business requires that we call them to take advantage of the opportunity of the amnesty period to come and register to know how to give them licence as provided by the Lotto Act,” Mr Osei-Ameyaw added.
Ultimatum
He explained that the ultimatum would end on December 31, 2017 and after that “we will move into action and the lotto courts, the lotto prosecutors and the lottery police would arrest those involved in
Banker-to-Banker and deal with them according to the law.”
He added that before the courts and the police would roll out their operations, they must be given the opportunity to identify themselves so that “we can work together.”
Mr Osei-Ameyaw assured the members of the Lotto Marketing Companies and Retailers Association that aside the moves to increase their earnings, the authority had also put measures in place to provide them with other services that would increase their earnings.
He said the members of the Lotto Marketing Companies and Retailers Association would be provided with the state-of-the-art lotto kiosks so they would provide additional services.
Mystery shopping
Reacting to concerns raised by some members of the Lotto Marketing Companies and Retailers Association that their own people had been conniving with the Banker-to-Banker operators, he assured them that they would be smoked out.
He stated that very soon the intelligence unit and some other people would be engaged to embark on mystery shopping to arrest members of the National Executive of Lotto Marketing Companies and Retailers Association who conspire with the Banker-to-Banker operations.
Mr Osei-Ameyaw assured members of the association that their complaints about the paper rolls that they used in printing would be addressed and that it would be referred to the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) for redress.
