NLA to Clamp Down On Illegal Lottery Operators

By Alex Ohene

The Director General of National Lottery Authority (NLA), Honorable Kofi Osei-Ameyaw says NLA will soon clamp down heavily on illegal lottery operators, popularly referred to as Banker to Banker, whose activities are depriving the state of much needed revenue for national development.

Hon. Kofi Osei-Ameyaw was interacting with members of the Association of Lotto Marketing Companies (ALMC) who called on him to congratulate him on his appointment.

The chairman of the ALMC, Dan Mensah pledged the Association's support to the Director General and assured him of their commitment to work closely with him and support his vision to promote the operations of NLA.

The Members of ALMC also appealed to the Director General to address some concerns hampering their business.

Key among this is for the need to clamp down on Banker to Banker operators whose activities are not only crippling their business but depriving the state of the revenue which should otherwise end up in the Consolidated Fund for national development but was currently going into individuals' pockets as a result of the fact that Banker to Banker operators do not pay taxes on their earnings and more often than not also swindle their patrons by refusing to pay up on wins.

Members of the Association also decried the tax on lotto wins as this dissuades players from patronizing NLA products and encourages them to rather play Banker to Banker.

Director General of NLA, Hon. Kofi Osei-Ameyaw thanked the ALMC for their support and promised to work with them to further develop NLA in line with the vision of President Akufo-Addo to generate revenue for the State.

Hon. Osei-Ameyaw assured them of some plans in place to address their concerns.

These include the setup of a Lotto Task Force to clamp down on Banker to Banker operations. Those found flouting the law will be prosecuted in Lotto courts established nationwide.

Hon. Osei-Ameyaw assured them that he would address the issue of taxes on wins, commissions and other issues stifling their business.

He would also provide them with model kiosks which will appeal to the player while decentralizing the business in all regions and districts.

The Director General promised to will hold periodic meetings with the ALMC to update them on progress made.

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