Ambrose Dery, Minister of Interior
The Ministry of the Interior has advised gaming operators to display a sign post in front of their businesses to discourage under-aged children from engaging in the activity.
The Ministry, therefore, urged the Gaming Commission to play its role by effectively monitoring their activities to ensure that the right persons were engaged in the industry.
Mr Ambrose Dery, the Sector Minister, in a speech read on his behalf, expressed concern about underage children who spent school hours and weekends engaging in gaming activities.
The Minister gave the advice in Accra at a stakeholder’s forum on ways to address emerging issues in the industry.
The forum was on the theme “Meeting Emerging Trends to Promote Gaming the Right Way”.
Mr Dery said the gaming industry was at the forefront of hitech, undergoing development and increasing its attractiveness, which sometimes puts the industry under the spot light, adding that there was the need for constant monitoring to ensure sanity.
He said gaming had raised social and psychological concerns in society, prompting regulators to provide adequate controls from consumer protection to social well-being.
He said the Government remained committed to promoting a gaming environment where the industry would be an enjoyable leisure activity, devoid of societal menace and criminality.
The Minister urged operators to offer options that would help punters manage their gambling in a responsible manner and give them control over both the time and money spent.
He said a healthy gaming industry with strong frameworks and guidelines were essential for policy formulation.
Mr Peter Mireku, the Acting Deputy Commissioner of the Gaming Commission, said the forum was to get stakeholder’s perspective on the way forward to enhance its Strategic Business Plan.
He said the Commission had set up a taskforce to clamp down on the activities of illegal gaming operators and gambling centres that were being patronised by children.
He said the taskforce, which was made up of officials of the Commission and the Ghana Police Service, had clamped down on many centres and seized machines of those who flouted the rules and regulations of the Commission.
Mr Mireku said the Commission would soon roll out a campaign to engage stakeholders including parents, guardians and traditional authorities to deal with underage children involved in gaming activities.
