By Alex Boye
Officials of the Concerned Lotto Operators and Agents Association of Ghana (CLAAG), have expressed worry about government’s continues refusal to support their operations.
According to the association, heartless attitudes demonstrated towards them by the former Director General of the National Lottery Authority, (NLA) Kofi Osei Ameyaw is still being executed by Mr. Sammy Awuku, the current director General.
Expressing their worry at a press conference over the weekend over a recent demolishing of Lotto Kiosks at Amasaman in Accra, the Executive Secretary of the Association, Kwaku Dua Tawiah, said the NLA seem to have not realized the essence of their operations and have demonstrated heartless attitude towards them for the past years.
He expressed worry over why officials of the NLA should task their men to go round destroying offices of their members for no wrong done.
“It has come to the attention of the leadership of the Concerned Lotto Agents Association of Ghana (CLAAG) that officials of National Lotteries Authority, and some members of the security services are going round destroying lotto kiosks with the bat of guns, harassing and arresting some Lotto Agents and Writers” he stated.
He wondered why Agents and Writers who are downstream workers, be receiving such ill thought out and callous actions from the NLA with no reason given.
“By this action we are convinced that the NLA had a predetermined plan to frustrate us and prefers to tread the course of collision rather than to jaw-jaw for the betterment of the country’s peace and unity” he disclosed.
He stated that the action by the NPP government through the board and management of the NLA is rather insensitive and obnoxious especially coming at a time of high unemployment level.
“Writers and their families are suffering untold hardships and strangulation as a result of the general economic malaise.
One would have thought that government through the Ministries of Finance and Labour will quickly intervene to assuage the wicked economic strangulation being visited on Lotto Writers and Agents by the board and management of NLA by the directive to already reduce our incomes via commission slashing, but alas, that is not to be. One wonders whether this is the same government that promised to create and sustain jobs as well as provide social safety nets for the poor and vulnerable” Mr. Tawiah hinted.
“It is clear that the NPP is no friend of lotto operators as similar treatment was meted out by the Osei Ameyaw administration and now the Sammy Awuku administration. . We therefore safely conclude that NLA’s action is borne out of hatred for our business.
CLAAG will therefore like to use this medium to assure this insensitive government that the lotto fraternity will not sit down aloof while government functionaries including board members, management and security apparatchiks of the NLA continue to harass innocent citizens” the CLAAG Executive Secretary further stated.
He disclosed that the actions of the NLA is lending credence to rumours making the rounds within the lotto fraternity that NLA has engaged EDITEACH COMPANY to take over the operations of lottery in Ghana, hence doing the bidding of the said company by eliminating us from the industry.
“The leadership of CLAAG wants to assure lotto Writers and Agents across the length and breadth of the country that CLAAG will explore every legitimate means at its disposal to have this matter resolved hence members should continue to remain calm and law abiding as leadership activates the various processes” he assured.
