The National Lottery Authority (NLA) has introduced a new directive aimed at regulating Ghana’s lottery industry, mandating that all agents must be properly licensed to operate.
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In a statement to the media, NLA Director-General Mohammed Abdul-Salam emphasized that this initiative is designed to clean up the sector and address the issue of unlicensed operators who are saturating the market.
“We want to ensure that those serving customers are doing so legally,” he stated. “There are too many individuals selling lottery tickets without the proper authorization, making it challenging to continually pursue those who violate the law.”
This directive comes in response to concerning discrepancies found in data submitted by private lottery agents. The Director-General noted that when the NLA requested information on the number of writers associated with these agents, the figures did not align with the reported revenue.
“We asked private lottery agents to provide data on their writers. When we compared those projections with their reported earnings, there was a significant gap,” he explained.
This inconsistency raises issues regarding accountability, potential revenue losses, and the overall integrity of the lottery system. By ensuring that only licensed agents are allowed to operate, the NLA aims to restore public trust and safeguard both players and government revenue.
However, this initiative may encounter pushback, particularly from unregistered agents who could be driven out of business. Nevertheless, the NLA maintains that this effort is essential for establishing a fair and transparent environment for operators and protecting unsuspecting customers from exploitation.
