The National Lottery Authority (NLA) has organized a day’s training programme for lotto agents and writers in the country on the processes involved in acquiring licence.
The training took place on Thursday in Accra following stakeholders’ forum held by the Authority on August 15, this year.
Several events are being organized to foster collaboration between the Authority and other stakeholders in the lotto industry.
Director-General, Kofi Osei Ameyaw, stated that the training programme was to equip the agents and writers on how to regularize their activities in conformity with the National Lottery Law (Act 722).
According to him, the exercise would help them to do genuine business to avert police harassment.
During the training programme, the agents and writers were educated on how to fill the forms and other processes in order to gain valid NLA licence.
Mr. Osei-Ameyaw stated that all agents and writers validly licensed would be issued with ID cards which would be renewed annually.
He said the writers and the agents should ensure that operators they work with are validly licensed to avert problems.
He declared that fees for the registration process had not been determined because the NLA board was yet to set them.
Concerns
Some writers and agents expressed concern about the declaration of their criminal records.
They stated that some agents and writers had been convicted in the past for doing that particular business without licence.
They wanted to know whether having a criminal record would bar them from obtaining a licence.
The Director-General said they had granted those people some amnesty until 31st December, 2017 to register and get licensed.
They raised issues with the illegal activities of non-Ghanaians in the West African sub-region in the lotto business.
Mr. Ameyaw stated that they were going through the ECOWAS protocols and other diplomatic and legal means to bring such people to book, but their focus was on Ghana.
The writers and the agents expressed joy at the event and called on the Authority to extend it to various parts of the country.
The National Lottery Authority has been engaging stakeholders over the past weeks on how to improve the lotto industry in the country.
This was the third in a series of events which began with the stakeholders, operators and agents and writers to help implement a good licensing regime to improve the activities of all stakeholders in the lotto industry.
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