National Lotteries to decentralise its operations

The Department of National Lotteries (DNL) has started a programme to decentralise its operations as part of measures to improve upon its performance and increase revenue.

As part of the programme the DNL will establish offices at the regional and district capitals from where lotto receivers could take delivery of their lotto coupons and books instead of travelling to Accra.

Kojo Andah, Director of the DNL, said this at a get-together held on Sunday by the Kumasi Lotto Receivers Welfare Club as part of activities marking the club's 20th anniversary. He said the decentralisation programme began in April and that the department had already located offices in the regional and district capitals.

''The programme will immediately be followed by automation of our lotto system.'' Andah said the DNL would soon institute a scheme to award honest and hardworking lotto receivers with trips to countries including the USA, South Africa and Australia.

On concerns raised by the lotto receivers regarding the problems posed to the DNL by 'Banker-to-Banker' operators, Andah explained that enacting a law to prohibit operations of the operators alone could not eliminate them entirely from business.

He said any such law ought to be measures backed by DNL and lotto receivers "to enable us to push them out of business". Gabriel Boateng, secretary of the Kumasi Lotto Receivers Welfare Club, said the main objective of the Club was to expose the bad nuts among them.

Osei Asibey Mensah, Chairman of the Club, assured the DNL that notwithstanding the constraints, lotto receivers were poised to co-operate and work much harder to help the Lotteries generate more revenue