NLA staff demand removal of DG

The local union of the Financial Business Services Employees Union (FBSEU), of the National Lottery Authority (NLA) chapter, has appealed to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo not to extend the contract of the Authority’s Director-General, Kofi Osei-Ameyaw.

The staff demonstration which was staged at the offices of NLA in Accra on Monday March 1, said since the appointment of Mr Ameyaw, revenue generation of the NLA had dwindled and there was no redemption of the same in sight.

In a letter to the Presidency on the removal of the Director-General sighted by Happyghana.com read,

“On behalf of the entire members of the National Lottery Authority (NLA) Local Union of Financial Business and Services Employees Union (FBSEU), we congratulate you for successful re-election into the High Office of Ghana for the next four years.

“We pray that the words of God the Most High, be your guide throughout your second term of office to ensure that Ghana derives the best from you before you leave office.

“Your Excellency, as Staff of the National Lottery Authority (NLA), which is a state-owned enterprise, we have always been, and remain concerned about how the Organisation is managed by the Director-Generals appointment by Heads of State over the years, including your appointees, the Board of Directors, Honorable Kofi Osei-Ameyaw, and his team.

“Being mindful of what had happened to some State-Owned Enterprises in the past as a result of mismanagement by some government appointees, and its negative effect on Ghana and the general wellbeing of the affected Staff and their dependants, we have decided to heed to your call on every Ghanaian to be a citizen but not a spectator to bring to your attention, some of the decisions which your appointees have taken with their negative impacts on Revenue Generation by the National Lottery Authority (NLA) for the past four years as the Managers of the Authority (NLA), to avert similar situation befalling on us.

“On the basis of these concerns, and in the absence of having access to the Account Books of the Organisation, some of the Key Performance Indicators which we as workers have being using to assess the performance of the National Lottery Authority (NLA) have been the fact that over the years, the Authority had an enviable record of being the second highest contributor of funds into the Consolidated Fund, made Prompts Payment of Prizes to winners of its Games, paid Salaries and other Emoluments of Staff regularly without any excuses for delay, paid Commissions to Licensed Marketing Companies (LMCs) without delays, provided the appropriate Raw Materials such as Paper Rolls needed to give effect to the Sales of the products of the Authority, paid the Service Providers their charges promptly, etc.

Unfortunately, for the past four years, the situation had not been the same as we have enumerated below:

Operational Challenges

Operational challenges due to non-payment of fees owed Service Providers have resulted in the shutdown of Vodafone service to all Regional and District offices outside the Head Office. This has resulted in the inability of the Licensed Marketing Companies (LMCs) to buy credit at these offices and is adversely affecting revenue generation.

In addition, some Banking Partners such as NIB, Zenith, to mention a few have withdrawn some of their services due to non-payments of outstanding debts owed them, making it difficult for some LMCs across the country to purchase credits for the Point of Sales Terminals (POSTs).

Delays in Statutory Payments, including Salaries and Emoluments of Staff

Honouring of Statutory Financial Obligations such as Prizes to Winners of the Games and Commissions to Licensed Marketing Companies are delayed unduly. Our information is that as at February, 2021, the total Indebtedness of the Authority to winners of the games, runs into an estimated figure of GHs12 Million, with some dating as far back as May, 2020. This has resulted in physical attacks of some of the Staff in Tamale as reported by https://www.myjoyonline.com/lotto-winners-throng-nla-office-to-demand-payment.

What is most embarrassing is that, Staff Emoluments which have entrenched timelines are currently not being honored and no concrete reasons are given for such delays. Payments of Staff Salaries are constantly delayed or sometimes paid using rationing approach which sometimes span over weeks even though payday is long overdue. The Staff receive no form of communication from the appropriate quarters whatsoever as to what caused the delays and are paid at anytime the Authority wishes. Clothing Allowances for Junior Staffs and Leave Allowances for some employees for 2020 are yet to be settled.

Absence of Industrial Democracy and Disregard for the Welfare of Staff

For the past four (4) years as Director-General of the Authority, Honorable Kofi Osei-Ameyaw, only visited three (3) out of the thirteen (13) Regional and District offices, and thus has made it difficult for the Staff to engage him on matters affecting them which are equally important to the growth of the Authority and also has failed to hold a single Worker’s Durbar since assuming office as the Chief Executive Officer of the Authority. This is coupled with the absence of a substantive Human Resource Manager who can competently take on matters connected with the Staff, a clear indication that Staff Welfare and Working Conditions are the least of his worries.

Abuse of Power and Conflict of Interest

Although the Authority has the infrastructure and over 5,000 Points Of Sales Terminals (POSTs) which are locked up in the Warehouses to operate any game to expand the Revenue base, yet Honorable Kofi Osei-Ameyaw and his team have controversially licensed KEED Ltd, or KGL TECHNOLOGIES LTD, DAYWA and VAG LOTTO which are private entities to operate NLA 5/90 Games whilst the Revenue inflow of the Authority continues to go down, given a room to suspect that Revenues from these ventures are not being paid into the account of the Authority, contrary to Section 32 of the Lotto Act (722).

Again, what baffles our minds as concerned Staff is that another primary Revenue Generation Input such as Paper Roll needed for the Point Of Sales Terminals (POSTs) which is the material used for continuous sales of the products of the Authority by the Licensed Marketing Companies (LMCs) to generate Revenue for the Authority and Commission for themselves as their source of livelihood, is always not in regular supply. This deliberate and unconscionable decision NOT to make paper Rolls available to LMCs in order to make sales, resulted in series of Protestations and Petitions by the Licensed Marketing Companies (LMCs) but have all fallen on death ears.

The most suspicious action is the decision by Honorable Kofi Osei – Ameyaw to license the operations of Banker to Banker (B2B) which lacks transparency and any clear operational, regulation and enforcement strategies. A typical example of this destructive agenda of licensing B2B like KEED Ghana Limited and ALPHA Lotto with their revenue contribution to NLA untraceable except maybe, the Director – General and one George Addo Yobo the immediate former Sales Director who supervised the Licensing of this Lotto Companies, and now dabbles as the Lotto Consultant to ALPHA Lotto. This move has always been questionable since it came after the then Chief Justice, Her Ladyship Georgina Wood, had commissioned Lotto Courts in certain Districts in the country and assigned Judges to these Courts, a ceremony which was attended by Honorable Kofi Osei-Ameyaw himself.

In the midst of these suspicious deals, there is also no Chief Internal Auditor to effect regular internal audit, as the position is vacant and it is also not clear as to why your Excellency has not appointed a Chief Internal Auditor in accordance with Section 48 of the Lotto Act 2006 (Act 722), to assist in controlling the situation, whilst all Heads of Departments are in an Acting Position. There is not also Head for the Legal Department as well, not even an acting Head. However, all legal services are outsourced to third parties at exorbitant fees in the midst of low revenue generation.

The Overall Effect of the Actions and Inactions of the Director-General

The overall effect of the actions and inactions of the, Board of Directors, the Director-General and his team on the Authority’s finances is that, Revenues of the National Lottery Authority (NLA) has sunk to an all-time low and continues to drop day-by-day as there is no redemption of same in sight whilst the morale of the Staff has also dwindled drastically.

As concerned Workers and most importantly Ghanaians, we are by this letter, appealing to your Excellency as the father of The Nation who has proven to be a listening President over the years, and has the country at heart not to fall into any deceptive maneuvers by any person or group of persons or members of the outgoing Board of Directors or the Director – General and his team, seeking for reappointment or to renew their mandate. It is abundantly clear that they have jointly run down the National Lottery Authority (NLA) over the past four (4) years and that any move to renew their appointment will incur the displeasure of the Staffs and Lotto Marketing Companies and create an unhealthy Industrial Atmosphere in an important National Asset such as the National Lottery Authority (NLA).

We need a new Board of Directors and Director – General with good track record in management to overturn the misfortunes we have experienced under the outgoing Board of Directors, the Director – General and his team.

We also request that an Independent Investigative Body be appointed to conduct a forensic audit into how the National Lottery Authority (NLA) was managed over the past four (4) years to bring it so low in terms of Revenue Generation.

Respectfully be assured that we are prepared as a Local Union, to work in harmony with any new team your Excellency will appoint to man the affairs of Authority in the best interest of our beloved country.

We have seen some theories being peddled that the Local Union is pushing this agenda in favor of certain parties. We wish to state that such rumor is not factual and may only be perpetuated or orchestrated by some self – seeking individuals to achieve their selfish desires.

As stated earlier, our decision to make this appeal is only influenced by the interest we have in the growth of the NLA and the Welfare of the Staff but not politically aligned nor pushing an agenda of any Politician or Politicians. Again, we are not interested in personalities who replace the outgoing Board of Directors, the Director – General and or Deputy Director – General as long as the old team is kicked out and the fortunes of the company saved and reinstated.