Members of the Lotto Marketing Companies (LMCs) association clad in red bands with the placards
Members of the Lotto Marketing Companies (LMCs) Association have hit the streets of Accra over the National Lottery Authority (NLA) and KGL Technology Limited contract.
The members of the group clad in red bands wielded placards amidst chanting of slogans as they moved through some principal streets of Accra to register their displeasure.
Some of the placards read “KGL is taking our work”, “Stop delays in payment of our commission”, ” Mr President we can’t breathe stop KGL”, “NCA stop KGL from using the shortcode,”, Mr President don’t allow KGL to operate”, among other messages.
The group claim KGL is collapsing their business and if the government does not terminate the contract, over, 120,000 Lotto Marketing Companies and their subagents will be rendered jobless.
They explained that this will also deprive the state of its revenue since the money accrued by KGL goes into a private pocket.
KGL is the parent company of Keed Ghana Limited and is the digital lottery operator of the NLA 5/90 official short code, *959# and other digital platforms under the brand name Keed-NLA.
Briefing the media ahead of the presentation of the petition to the Presidency, the Ministry of Finance, Council of State and Parliament, the Interim Chairman of Greater Accra Lotto Marketing Association, Justice K. Ampiah said the continuous operation of KGL would encourage the operation of ‘banker to banker’, an illegal lotto operation.
“Banker to banker is illegal that is why eleven courts were set up to deal with such operators but if we don’t take care it will bounce back”, he said.
Mr Ampiah said under the National Lotto Act, (2006 ) Act 722, a lotto marketing account has been created for the mobilisation of revenue accrued from the sale of lotto but KGL was currently not paying money into that account.
“A percentage of the money paid into the lotto account goes into the consolidated fund which is used for developmental projects but now the state is being denied that much-needed revenue,” he said.
He explained that their members refinance the NLA and are expected to receive commissions but those commissions are not being paid as well.
When contacted later, the head of the Public Relations Unit of the NLA, Razak Kwadwo Opoku, said the demand of the association was out of malice.
He said the law makes provisions for the NLA to engage private operators and that, several such companies have been engaged to operate the lotteries of the NLA.