The National Lottery Authority (NLA) has outlines series of activities, planned over the next three months to commemorate its 60th anniversary.
This was announced by the Director General of the Authority, Mr. Samuel Awuku at the launch of the Authority’s 60 years anniversary celebration.
He said the Authority has also dedicated the month of October to their cherished customers, “whom we recognize as our most valued assets. The month of November is slated for our Good Causes.”
He indicated that, in the month the Authority will give back to society by commissioning some Projects, in various parts of the country.
“These will be climaxed with a Grand Durbar of the Anniversary Celebration in December, held concurrently with a Conference on Responsible Gaming as we host the African Lotteries Association (ALA),” he said.
He touched on the history of Lottery in Ghana tracing it back to the Roman Empire, in the year 1434 in Sluis, Holland in Europe.
Samuel Awuku also averred that, after many years, while on an official visit to the Republic of Malta in the Southern part of Europe, Mr. Komla Gbedemah the then Finance Minister, stumbled across a lottery, culminating in the birth of the NLA.
“As the story goes, Mr. Gbedemah informed the then Prime Minister, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah on his return, who in turn sent envoys to Malta to understudy the lottery, and requested the Maltese government to help Ghana set up its own lottery body. In granting that request, the Maltese government seconded, Mr. William Francis Brennan, an Officer of the Malta Public Lotteries Department, to assist Ghana set up the Department of National Lotteries (DNL). Mr. Brennan was thus the Department’s first Director-General,” he recalled.
He said, after the establishment of the NLA some years ago, NLA can confidently boast of exemplifying its mandate to make all stakeholders ultimate winners.
He said: “It has been 60 Years of generating revenue for national development, 60 years of touching lives, communities, and institutions and 60 years of making our patrons millionaires.”
He maintained that, while NLA has had its fair share of challenges in this 60-year journey, the reforms, policies, and decisions taken by successive Boards and Director-Generals have helped shaped the organization into what it is today.
He commended all the Boards, Director-Generals, Directors, Management and Staff, both past, and present who have worked tirelessly to keep the NLA afloat.
Attorney General
The Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Odame in a Goodwill message congratulated the NLA on reaching the 60years milestone in its history.
He stressed the fact that the NLA has contributed greatly to the development of the Ghanaian economy and that, Sixty years of existence in any person’s life is no mean feat and, if NLA were a natural person, per the laws of Ghana, today’s function would be termed a “send-off party” because then NLA would be retiring from active service.
He mentioned that, lottery is a celebration of the partnership between NLA and its patrons in an effort to give each and every member of the staking public an exceptional lifetime opportunity, adding that NLA gives people the opportunity to dream about what we might do if we won the lottery.
Board Chairman
Over the last year, the Authority has been embarking on a restructuring exercise to drive efficiency and rebuild our corporate image. One of such initiatives, was the relaunch of the Caritas Lottery Platform.
This according to the Board Chairman of NLA, Togbe Francis Nyonyo Agboada, was a demonstration of the Authority’s resolve to deepen partnership with Corporate Ghana.
NLA, according to him, now has the sole mandate to regulate all consumer promotional schemes with elements of chance, raffles, draws, points-based selection, stressing that, “We have successfully licensed some Private Lotto Operators, (PLOs) and look forward to welcoming more on board. The security services together with the NLA task force will continue to clamp down on defaulters to sanitize the lottery industry. We are also in the process of signing on some more Collaborators who will introduce some exciting new games for our cherished patrons. By the end of the year, we should take delivery of our modern machines, which purchase was done in accordance with the standards of the World Lottery Association (WLA).”
On his part, the Minister for Defence, Dominic Nitiwul said as members of the family, VAG has benefited from support from proceeds from the NLA VAG lottery game.
He said his ministry would continue to explore more avenues of partnership with the NLA in bettering the lives of his men.
