Lotto agents sensitised to licence acquisition processes

The National Lottery Authority (NLA) has organised a training programme for lotto agents and writers across the country to equip the lotto agents and writers with the knowledge of how to regularise their activities in conformity with the National Lottery Law (Act 722).

The training follows a series of stakeholder forums held by the authority to foster collaboration between lotto operators, agents and writers on the process.

The Director-General of the NLA, Mr Kofi Osei-Ameyaw, said the collaboration with the private lotto operators would enable them to conduct genuine business and avert police harassment.

He said the stakeholders were educated on how to fill the forms and other processes in order to gain valid NLA operational licence.

Mr Osei-Ameyaw said all agents and writers validly licensed would be issued with identification cards, which would be renewed annually.

The Director-General said fees for the registration process had not been determined because the NLA board was yet to be set up.

Some stakeholders expressed concern about the declaration of their criminal records, adding that most of them had been convicted in the past for doing the same business without licence.

“We want to know whether having a criminal record would bar us from obtaining a licence,” they enquired.

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The Director-General, however, assured the stakeholders that all those who had been convicted for operating illegally would be granted amnesty until December 31, 2017, to register and get licensed.

He said the NLA was going through the ECOWAS protocols and other diplomatic and legal means to bring some West African nationals who were involved in the illegal lotto business in the country to book.

The writers and the agents expressed gratitude for the training and called on the authority to extend it to the various parts of the country.

The NLA has been engaging stakeholders in the country’s lotto operations on how to improve on the industry throughout the year.

This is to help stakeholders to implement a good licensing regime to improve their activities in the industry.