Lotto Operators To Partner Government

The Ghana Lotto Operators Association (GLOA), on Tuesday said it was ready to partner government in promoting its agenda of mobilizing revenue and creating job opportunities to accelerate the growth of Ghana's economy.

The association said it believed that development of the country could be accelerated through a carefully structured government support for private businesses. At a Press Conference in Accra, Mr. Seth Asante Amoani, GLOA's Secretary, said the association was happy that government after the Supreme Court decision, convened a meeting with members of the associations and National Lotto Authority to find a middle-way solution to the current economic difficulties and unemployment created by the Lotto Act, Act 722.

The conference comes in the wake of the decision of the Supreme Court on July 22, this year barring the association from commencing business. Membership of GLOA include: Obiri Asare and Sons Limited, Rambel Enterprise Limited, Dan Multi Purpose Trading Enterprise, Agrop Association Limited, Star Lotto Limited and From Home Enterprise. Expressing their gratitude to government in developing a consensus to ensure GLOA's participation in private Lotto in the country, Mr. Amoani urged government to treat their predicament with urgency.

"GLOA pledges its firm support, to government in all its deliberations to bring satisfactory arrangement to regularize the operations of GLOA in the lotto industry," he said. Mr. Amoah said that the creation of the National Lotto Authority (NLA), was originally proposed by GLOA to serve as the regulator and not the operator of lotto in the country. "We wish to state equivocally that the creation of the monopoly in a democratic dispensation must be condemned, as it is an anathema to the progress of majority of people who depended to eke out a living." He said "the monopoly created for the NLA is just bad as bad governance" and implored government to live up to its promise and effect the needed amendment to the National Lotto Act, Act 722. Mr. Amoani contended that a look at some communist countries showed that those countries were now adopting "free market economics" together with private sector participation in the development of their economies. He regretted that government which announced to the populace of creating jobs rather seemed to be creating unemployment among some sections of the populace.

According to him over 500,000 families who depended on operations of GLOA for their livelihood would have no jobs thus souring the current high unemployment rate. Mr Amoani said "Excessive unemployment and mass discontent will surely affect the fortunes of the government in the next elections". He said GLOA was ready to continue to work hand in hand with government to place the excess labour in the private sector. "We hope that the response of the NDC government and President Mills on our urgent supplication will not be long-overdue," said.