NandomNaa Volunteers to Deal with Banker-to-Banker Operators

Nandom (U/W), Nov. 25, GNA - The Paramount Chief of the Nandom Traditional Area, Naa Dr Puoure Puobe Chiir VII, has offered to be an ambassador for the National Lottery Authority NLA to canvas against the activities of Banker-to-Banker operators in his traditional area.   The activities of Banker-to-Banker operatives take a chunk of the NLA's market for which the Authority is constantly battling to ensure that national lottery games directly fall under its authority.   The Paramount Chief made the offer when the Authority presented a cheque for GHc3000 towards the celebration of the Kakube Festival of the Chiefs and People of the Nandom traditional area at Nandom, in the Upper West Region at the weekend.   The Paramount Chief noted that Banker-to-Banker operations continued because the patrons of such illegal businesses did not appreciate the effects their actions had on the national economy and said there was the need for constant education to sensitize both patrons and operators on the illegality, the consequences and effects of their businesses on the nation's development.   The Paramount Chief remarked that the NLA was a national asset where a significant amount of the country's domestic earnings was derived for the execution of development projects such as the construction of schools, the provision of potable water, construction and rehabilitation of roads, among other development needs.   He therefore cautioned that it behoved on all well-meaning Ghanaian citizens to protect it by desisting from staking from the Banker-to-Banker operators whose earnings from these illegitimate businesses only go into their pockets.   The Paramount Chief used the occasion to appeal to government to speed up works on the Wa Airstrip to open the area up to brisk commercial activities, adding that the Upper West Region was well positioned to take up trade challenges as it shared borders with other West African countries.   Naa Poube expressed gratitude to the management of the NLA for the donation and said it would help to improve on activities scheduled for this year by the committee organizing this year's festival.   Mr George Gyemfi-Osew, Director of Special Projects, at the NLA who presented the cheque to the Nandom Traditional Authority, commended Naa Poube's offer to act as an ambassador to weed off Banker-to-Banker operatives in his traditional area.   He indicated that Banker-to-Banker activities took up to about 40-45 per cent of the NLA market nationwide and said those activities had become a serious menace to the Authority, adding that his outfit welcomed any person, group or authority that would volunteer to help curb the menace.   Mr Gyemfi-Osew said NLA had for a long time supported traditional authorities in the country with funds and other logistics to organize festivals and said the gift for northern Ghana was the first step, adding that the Authority would continue the gesture to ensure that Ghanaians upheld their traditions, culture, and heritage for posterity.   The Kakube festival is an occasion for the people to give thanks to ancestral spirits and ask them to bless the soil and protect them during the farming season. It is celebrated from the last week of November to the first week in December every year.   GNA... Read Full Story