The Ghana Lotto Operators Association (GLOA) and the Concerned Lotto Agents Association of Ghana (CLAA) has recently expressed their displeasure with aspects of the National Lottery Authority’s (NLA) operations.
According to the groups, issues such as licensing, regulatory measures, digitalization mechanisms, and responsibility to the Veteran Association, among other things, were being handled inefficiently and selfishly rather than in the national interest, resulting in significant job losses and industry losses.
“Currently, NLA, MD since Mr Samuel Awuku took office, he has pretended that there is no such arrangement,” they said in a statement. When he sent out his invitation to renew our license for two million cedis this year, he offered to publicize the operators who had fully paid and then call us to sign an agreement (GHc2, 000,000).
“We did not receive the entire agreement form; the NLA only provided us with the page that needed to be signed.” NLA coerced some GLOA members into signing the contract, promising that any problems that arose as a result of the agreement would be resolved later. Other GLOA members refused to sign and instead requested information from the NLA in writing.
“The NLA has failed to regularize lotto operations in order to prevent illegal practices and ensure that those of us who have paid for our licenses can work at our peak efficiency and pay our fair share to NLA and Ghana’s economy.”
“We, the private lotto operators, proposed to the NLA that it tax the writers by charging one hundred and twenty cedis (GHC 120) for each lottery kiosk, with an embossed sticker for each paying writer. There are over 2 million writers in the private lottery industry. Do you know how much money NLA will make from our writers? Over the last five years, numerous petitions and letters urging NLA to implement this recommendation have been sent, but to no avail. Despite the fact that we provided NLA with the GPS coordinates for the lottery kiosk to assist them with the procedure, nothing came of it.”
14th September 2022
NEWS RELEASE
LOTTO OPERATORS AND AGENTS EXPRESS DISMAY ABOUT NLA
PRIVATIZATION AND DIGITIZATION, WHICH WOULD RESULT IN JOB LOSSES
The Ghana Lotto Operators Association (GLOA) and the Concerned Lotto Agents Association of Ghana (CLAA) has expressed serious concerns about the National Lottery Authority’s (NLA) operations since its new Director General Sammy Awuku took office.
We (GLOA and CLAA members) are attempting to restore balance and provide clarification on the issues raised. Issues such as licensing, regulatory measures, digitalization mechanisms, and responsibility to the Veteran Association, among other things, were being handled inefficiently and selfishly rather than in the national interest, resulting in significant job losses and losses in the industry.
NLA, MD is currently employed. Mr Samuel Awuku has pretended that there is no such arrangement since taking office. When he sent out his invitation to renew our license for two million cedis this year, he offered to publicize the operators who had fully paid and then call us to sign an agreement (GHc2, 000,000). The entire agreement form was not sent to us; instead, the NLA only provided us with the page that needed to be signed. NLA coerced some GLOA members into signing the contract, promising that any problems that arose as a result of the agreement would be resolved later. Other GLOA members refused to sign and instead requested information from the NLA in writing.
In order to prevent illegal practices and ensure that those of us who have paid for our licenses can work at our peak efficiency and pay our fair share to NLA and Ghana’s economy, NLA has failed to regularize lotto operations.
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We, the private lotto operators, proposed to NLA that it tax the writers by charging one hundred and twenty cedis (GHC 120) for each lottery kiosk, with an embossed sticker for each writer who pays. In the private lottery industry, there are over 2 million writers. Do you have any idea how much money NLA will make with our writers? Numerous petitions and letters urging NLA to implement this recommendation have been sent over the past five years but to no avail. Even though we gave NLA the GPS coordinates for the lottery kiosk to help them with the procedure, nothing came of it.
We, as private lottery operators, do not oppose the growing trend of digitization in the lottery industry. Outsourcing the 5/90 lottery to KEED Limited (KGL) will, however, result in the job loss of millions of Ghanaians. Almost two million writers employed by private lotto companies could be laid off. Thousands of workers and over 6,000 writers will also be affected.
Don’t forget the thousands of related parties who will lose their jobs, such as drivers, checkpoint workers, printing industry workers, carpenters, and so on. It is intriguing to learn that NLA will ignore potential job losses and their economic consequences in order to further the vested interests of a select few.
Because of the economy’s current state in a system without government aid (such as unemployment benefits, council housing, food stamps, and child care), job losses will become intolerable (etc). “Who are the true owners of the KGL?” and “What have they contributed to the Ghanaian economy and lottery sector?” remain open questions. The personal interests of some government officials are more important here than the interests of hardworking Ghanaians or the nation’s economy as a whole.
The NLA has also been unfair to the 15 registered private lotto firms. Over the last two years, these corporations have paid millions of cedis in exchange for the NLA’s guarantee to control lotto operations. The majority of these businesses have been in operation for more than two decades, contributing to both the economy and Ghana’s lottery industry. Why give autonomy to a brand-new company that has only been around for two years? NLA urged private lotto companies to invest in POS terminals, software for NLA integration, and so on. Despite spending millions of cedis on the digital infrastructure needed to transform our business, NLA now only uses one vendor for its outsourcing needs.
Despite their promises to provide jobs, the only thing this administration is doing to further the self-interest of a small group of people is ripping jobs away from millions of Ghanaians. We are astounded by the NLA’s director’s reaction to KGL’s digital operations activities and his attempt to exaggerate their role without referring to the significant assistance provided by commercial lottery operators. Rather than mingling with KGL digital operators, NLA management should clarify its regulatory responsibilities.
The NLA should be open and honest with Ghanaians about the organizations that run KGL. Could it be that the NLA has delegated authority to KGL? If that is the case, the general public should be made aware of it, because the NLA belongs to the Ghanaian people.
According to the NLA, which claims to have 6,000 writers, protecting them during the digitizing process will cost around three million cedis (GHc 3,000,000). Private lotto operators’ use of approximately two million writers may soon be insufficient. According to my recollection, the Director General stated that KGL had promised the government an annual donation of 55 million cedis. As a result, millions of Ghanaians will lose their jobs, and the economy will suffer a loss of over 3 million cedis. Act.722 required 15 commercial lottery businesses to pay a total of 1.5 million dollars each, plus an additional 500,000 dollars for Act.844. As a result, these private lottery operators contribute at least 30 million cedis per year.
This sum has been given to the NLA and is not a pledge. It is worth noting that, in addition to the significant financial contribution made by commercial lottery operators, outsourcing to KGL would not result in the loss of millions of Ghanaians’ jobs. Isn’t it preferable to let private lotto operators work, employ Ghanaians, and pay the government millions of cedis rather than acting self-serving by outsourcing to KGL and displacing deserving Ghanaians?
There is also the cost of monopolistic procedure settlements. The government plans to compensate workers who will lose their jobs with millions of cedis.
The private lottery operators each contributed GH500,000 to the operation of Act 844. In the absence of the contractual agreement they have with NLA, VAG would have earned a total of seven million, five hundred thousand cedis (GHc 7,500,000) directly from private lottery operators instead of the GHc 1,440,000 cedis NLA paid to the Veterans Association. We’ve learned that NLA plans to monopolise the digitalization of VAG games and give it to a KGL affiliate.
The NLA is also looking into VAG games, which will not be 5/90 and are extremely unpopular in the lottery industry. These games will not generate enough revenue.
Private lotto operators currently generate more revenue for the National Lottery Authority, allowing them to meet government obligations such as those to the Finance Ministry and corporate social responsibilities, among others.
In conclusion,
The Ghana Lotto Operators Association (GLOA) and the Concerned Lotto Agents Association of Ghana (CLAA) are pleading with the National Lottery Authority (NLA) to stop giving KGL and its affiliates the exclusive right to run lotteries and to be open to receiving suggestions from us on how to enhance lotto operations and increase revenue for the country.
In the new agreement, NLA reinstates the 10-year tenure license renewal. This will aid in our capital investment’s return. It should be mentioned that the lottery is a game of chance and that big wins can cause you to lose money the first year. This forces you to borrow money to keep your firm afloat. However, if you can’t continue to run it beyond the first year, how will you be able to repay your creditors?
- NLA should provide us with a copy of the revised license agreement so we can review it.
- NLA shall invite us to sign the contract and award us a license with a start date that begins on the day the contract is signed.
- We also demand that we be given permission to renew our business licenses on an annual basis. The renewal fee must be stated clearly, and the additional amount cannot exceed 10% of the original fee.
- The NLA should address illegal practices and enforce rules regarding commission payments to writers and prize payments to winners.
- NLA should desist from granting a monopoly to KEED (KGL) and its subsidiaries and be open to a mechanism that includes private lotto operators in the digitization of the lotto process.
- NLA should be open to implementing some suggestions from private lotto operators on how to generate more revenue for the government.
SIGN:
GENERAL SECRETARY
GHANA LOTTO OPERATORS ASSOCIATION (GLOA)
SIGN:
CONCERNED LOTTO AGENTS ASSOCIATION OF GHANA (CLAA)
Further question and interview: SETH ASANTE AMOANI
0246 390 520
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