Osei Ameyaw (middle) signing the agreement with Captain Ben Duah (left
THE NATIONAL Lottery Authority (NLA) and the Veterans Administration of Ghana (VAG) have signed a major partnership agreement aimed at streamlining their lotto operations.
As per the agreement, the NLA has officially taken over lottery activities of VAG and shall in turn be making a monthly cash payment of GH¢120,000 to the latter for the upkeep of retired soldiers nationwide.
NLA is also expected to provide vehicles to VAG every seven years and also construct a sports stadium at Burma Camp for the soldiers.
NLA’s Director General, Kofi Osei Ameyaw, signed the agreement on behalf of his outfit whilst Captain (retired), Ben Edmund Duah, signed on behalf of VAG, on Tuesday, June 19, 2018, in Accra.
An initial cash sum of GH¢ 220,000 was paid to VAG by the NLA, with GH¢ 120,000 being part of the agreement and GH¢ 100,000 given out as the Lotto Authority’s corporate social responsibility aimed at helping veteran soldiers nationwide with medical consumables and other items to make their lives a bit better.
In his remarks at the signing ceremony held inside the Brennan Hall of the NLA, Mr. Osei Ameyaw explained that the project shall be expanded to the villages with the aim of helping veteran soldiers nationwide.
Similar agreement was signed between the NLA and VAG in the 1970s but did not prove successful, but Mr. Osei Ameyaw gave the assurance that the current agreement shall be of immense benefit to both parties and shall stand the test of time.
He stated,”I do not have the content of that agreement but the content we have in this one will stand the test of time.”
VAG, which has 19,000 retired soldiers as members, has some challenges which include poor health care and accommodation problems. It has limited resources to solve them.
Their reliance on the “Banker to Banker people” did not help in eliminating these challenges, hence the signing of the agreement. And Captain Duah is hopeful the NLA shall be of great help to the VAG.
In line with the agreement, operators who serve under VAG have been given a six-month notice to switch to obtain an authentic licence from NLA. Those who fail to do so will face the law.
BY Melvin Tarlue & Juliana Naki Odonkor