The Association of Lotto Marketing Companies (ALMCs) and the staff Union of the National Lottery Authority have urged the management of the NLA to take steps to harmonize the operations of the private companies with the NLA.
They also urged the private companies not to be recalcitrant with confrontational stance, but should bear in mind that Section 4 of the Lotto Act, 2006 (Act 722) gives the Authority the sole mandate to operate and regulate lottery in Ghana, and within the parameters set for them.
In a joint statement signed by Mr Eric Tamakloe and Nana Yaw Quansah, Chairman and Secretary of the NLA Staff Union of the Ghana Federation of Labour respectively and Mr Kofi Frimpong and Dan Mensah, General Secretary and National Chairman of the ALMCs respectively said, the current state of affairs of the NLA was pertinent and that there was huge potentials available to the Authority to work and generate huge sums of revenue to support government’s development agenda.
The statement said, the ALMCs averred that, the Authority was struggling to generate income to pay winning prizes, lotto commission, staff salaries and emoluments.
It said due to the massive encroachments on NLA market to feed on its flagship product, “the 5/90” game, where huge sums of money could be generated from its operations, the ALMCs offered their total support to the measures being put in place by the current management of the NLA to undertake some reforms in a bid to streamline some aspects of its operations.
It said the ALMCs and the the NLA Staff Union thus proposed to the Authority to introduce a clear-cut regulatory framework in accordance with the National Lottery Act, 2006 (Act 722) and Lottery Regulation, 2008 (LI 1848), review the licensing fees by introducineg a realistic rate, and in addition to charging licensing fees, revenue sharing should be instituted to ensure fairness and equity.
They also called for regular flow of communication to be adopted to avoid suspicion, rumours, speculations and levied agents and writers of the private lotto companies on a monthly basis to generate more income for the NLA, the statement added.
“In this case, proper records must be kept to ensure accountability and no company will have the right to conduct any draw without NLA’s authorization.”
It appealed to all the parties to refrain from using politics and the media as battle grounds, with the tendency to inflame passions and muddy the waters; but engage in dialogue to resolve any contentions that exist.
