Fulfil campaign promise – GLOA

Friday, May 28, 2010 (Page 19)

THE Ghana Lotto Operators Association (GLOA) has expressed its disappointment at the NDC government’s laxity in fulfilling its campaign promise to put its members back into business on assumption of power.
According to the association, more than 500,000 of its members were currently out of business and, to make matters worse, the National Lottery Authority (NLA) was currently using the police to harass and intimidate them, some of whom were currently in detention.
At a heavily attended press conference to express the association’s dismay at what it termed as “failed promises”, the General Secretary of the GLOA, Mr Seth Amoani, reminded President J.E.A. Mills of his campaign promises assuring the association that he would ensure that its members were put back in business when he was voted into power.
According to him, after almost two clear years in office, the government appeared not to be in any position to assist the association to put its members back into business.
The association also described as a sham the NLA’s claims to provide jobs which it had woefully failed to do, thereby “looking for scapegoats to explain its ineptitude and failure”.
According to GLOA, the National Lotto Act (Act 722) which outlawed private lotto business in the country was a bad law because it forcibly destroyed businesses and rudely liquidated the lawful investments made in the lotto industry by their members.
It, therefore, pleaded with “the good conscience of government not to entertain cases involving the unlawful arrests, detention and trial of lotto agents under the law in contention”, especially when the association was doing everything within its power to engage the government in talks.
It further expressed its disappointment at the government’s failure to exercise its lawful authority under Section 2 (4) of the National Lotto Act, 2006 (Act 722) to consider the operations of GLOA, as considered by the Parliament of Ghana.
Section 2 (4) of Act 722 indicates that “the authority may, in consultation with the minister, operate any other game of chance or enter into collaboration, partnership or joint venture with any person, society, association or corporate entity, to operate a game of chance in accordance with existing laws, but losses from the game of chance, the collaboration, partnership or joint venture shall be compensated for by the State or from the Lotto Account provided for under Section 32”.
The GLOA stated that that particular section provided for the participation of the private sector in the lotto industry, adding that “a careful reading of proceedings in Parliament attests to this”.
“Therefore, the GLOA is not asking for what it does not deserve but only insisting that the right action is taken by the NDC government under this provision to secure private investments made in the lotto industry over the years,” Mr Amoani pointed out on behalf of GLOA.
Mr Amoani, on behalf of the association, also accused the leadership of the NLA of incompetence and, accordingly, called for its removal.
The Supreme Court, on July 22, 2009, quashed an order by the Accra Fast Track High Court which gave the nod to private lotto operators to operate in the country and maintained that the lower court exceeded its authority by allowing the applicants to operate private lotto business in the country.
The members of the association include Obiri Asare and Sons Limited, Rambel Enterprise Limited, Dan Multipurpose Trading Enterprise Limited, Agrop Association Limited, Star Lotto Limited and From-Home Enterprises.