GLOA condemn arrests and prosecution of members

Accra, May 27, GNA - Ghana Lotto Operators Association of Ghana (GLO A) on Thursday condemned unwarranted arrests and prosecution of members by personnel of the Ghana Police Service. GLOA said it was dismayed at the rate at which the Police was arrest ing its members while the executives were dialoguing with government on how t o address problems affecting their participation in the lotto industry. Speaking at a press conference in Accra, Mr Seth Amoani, GLOA Secret ary noted that government was unduly delaying in executing its promise to protect the lawful employment of the citizenry.

The press conference comes in the wake of the arrest of eight person s including a woman by the Police during a special exercise in Accra. Six out of the eight have been granted GH¢5,000 bail each and orde red to reappear before the Circuit Court on June 15. According to Mr Amoani government had also failed to exercise its lawful

authority under the National Lotto Act, 2006, to consider the operations of GLOA as mandated by Parliament.

GLOA, he said, was also dissatisfied with the management of the National

Lotto Authority (NLA) with current 10 per cent use of automated machines by agents of the authority.

Mr Amoani noted that regularisation of the private sector participation in lottery was an emergency national issue following the open promise by President John Evans Atta Mills to regularise operations of GLOA under th e Act. He noted that due to government failure to take any step on its prom ise to the association, the current Act was having a tolling effect on them a s well as their families. "A caring government for better Ghana must have a greater responsibility to those who voted for it to be in power, and it is very s ad that the NDC (National Democratic Congress) Government has continued to watch its citizens reduced to destitution," he said. Mr Amoani therefore called for a second look at the Act; which he noted gave way for partnership between government and any association, person or society. The GLOA Secretary recounted that when the monopolisation of lotto in the country was initiated in 2006, management of NLA promised that there would be no loss of jobs but pointed that only 10 per cent of receivers could now use their automated machines. Describing the Act as a bad law, Mr Amoani said it was "forcibly destroying businesses, subjecting lawful employees to inhumanity and indignity and rendering citizens who depended on private lotto destitute" .. "When a law is bad such as some sections of Act 722, the government must

not enforce it," he added.

He said GLOA would protect its business if government failed to review sections of the Act.

Mr Kwame Conduah, a Consultant to GLOA in answering questions from the media, said members of the association would not take to the streets beca use they would prefer to exhaust all avenues before doing that. He noted that the lotto industry affected the lives of ordinary people n ot graduates and called on government to protect the businesses of GLOA members.

Mr Conduah said he was not happy with the status of Act 722, saying the law was bad because it had come to take away jobs and throw people to jail. Members of GLOA include, Obiri Asare and Sons Limited, Rambel Enterprise

Limited, Dan Multi Purpose Trading Enterprise, Agrop Association Limited,

Star Lotto Limited and From Home Enterprise.