A section of the members of the association. INSET: An executive of the association addressing the members
The Association of Licensed Lotto Operators and Agents Association (LLOAA) has lauded government for introducing a framework to regularize its activities in the country.
The Association described the introduction by government as a landmark event in the history of banker-to-banker operations in the country since independence.
Addressing members of the association to launch the group on Tuesday in Accra, David Offei Agyekum, Executive Chairman of the Association, said in the past banker-to-banker operators plied their trade in secret and were chased by members of the National Lottery Authority (NLA) and some other security operatives.
“This is a golden platform the government, through the NLA, has granted our sector and to reciprocate this gesture, let us see it as a clarion call to duty to be very transparent in all our engagements to ensure that no party suffers,” he indicated.
The chairman indicated that the private lotto operators have a role to play in creating more job opportunities in the sector.
He called on other Lottery Marketing Companies (LMC) to fulfill their obligations by paying their required licence fees to the NLA before the April 30 deadline.
“We do not want to go back to the dark days when people chased us around. We want all lotto marketing companies, agents and writers alike to comply with the NLA directives,” he stressed.
Mr Offei Agyekum, who also disclosed that the NLA was in the process of introducing e-Kiosks to phase out the current ones, revealed that the Super 4 Intelic Limited, an LMC operating in the country, has shown the way by obtaining a permit to operate as an accredited lottery company.
He added that the company was also in the process of registering its writers and agents in accordance with the new directives.
The Director-General of the NLA, Osei Ameyaw, recently announced that his outfit would license private lotto operators to operate banker-to-banker in approved areas and determine the licence fees through the NLA Board in accordance with relevant provisions of Act 722 and LI 1948.
It was also agreed that the NLA licensed banker-to-banker tickets or coupons should be printed by the operators and identifiable to the operators.
‘In that direction, operators in a particular region shall not transact business in another region without approval from the NLA.’
By Solomon Ofori