We’ll collaborate to clamp down on illegal lotto, gaming operators – AG assures NLA

The Office of the Attorney General has reiterated its commitment to the National Lottery Authority (NLA) and the Ghana Gaming Commission, to clamp down on illegal lotto and gaming operators in the country.

This assurance follows a revelation by the Director General of the NLA, Sammi Awuku, who testified before the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament, that approximately Ghc1 billion [about $130 million] is lost to the operation of illegal lottery in the country.

The Ghana Gaming Commission has also in recent years been faced with the challenge of sanitising the gaming industry and the operations of unauthorized gaming operators.

However, speaking at the maiden Ghana Gaming and Lottery Awards 2024 ceremony, the Deputy Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Diana Asonaba Dapaah, assured that her outfit will help support responsible and ethical gaming and lottery in the country.

“The Office of the Attorney General has a strong ally and support to both the Gaming Commission and the National Lotteries. Within the broad framework of our mandate which is to prosecute crime, we have at all times supported the agenda of both the Gaming Commission and the NLA to ensure responsible, ethical gaming and lotteries respectively.

“To that extent, just like all other crimes, any criminal offence under the two statutory gaming and lottery falls within our mandate to prosecute those persons. It is imperative that we put in structures including registration or licenses for all entities that acquire licenses to operate gaming or lottery are regulated,” Diana Asonaba Dapaah assured.

The Ghana Gaming and Lottery Awards 2024 ceremony was organised by Syndicated Entertainment Solution Ltd in partnership with the NLA and the Gaming Commission of Ghana.