General News of Thursday, 18 March 2021

Source: peacefmonline.com

Disregard 'misleading reports' about our finances - NLA

National Lottery Authority National Lottery Authority

The National Lottery Authority (NLA) has described as 'misleading and untrue' some media publications which seeks to question why the authority will seek financial assistance from partners KGL Technology Limited to offset some debt.

Some media outlets on Wednesday March 17, 2021 made publications that raised issues with the financial standing of the NLA and inferred that by virtue of records available to them, NLA should not be relying on KGL to pay its outstanding debts to winners.

But in a release issued by its Public Relations Unit, the NLA punched holes in the publication, insisting that writers of the stories did not appreciate fully, their financial situation.

The NLA noted that the stories failed to capture the expenses made within the last six years in their analysis of the problem.

"The NLA wants to set the records straight on a publication dated Wednesday, March 17, 2021, by The Finder newspaper captioned "KGL'S NLA BAIL OUT RAISES KEY QUESTIONS AS 6 YEAR'S REVENUE OF NLA SHOWS POSITIVE BALANCE"

"We want to state categorically that the publication is misleading, manufactured lies, outright fabrications and never represent the true picture of the financial records at the NLA", excerpt of the statement read.

In his analysis of the NLA financial records, the Editor of The Finder and writer of the article, Mr. Elvis Darko, completely failed to factor the following key financial obligations of the authority in his calculations:

"1. Payment of commission to Lotto Marketing Companies over the last six (6) years.

"2. Payment of fees to the Technical Service Providers over the last six (6) years.

"3. Statutory Payments to the Consolidated Fund over the last (6) six years."


The NLA also commended KGL Technology Limited, operators of the official short code of the authority’s *959# for a solid partnership and good working relationship.

"The National Lottery Authority (NLA) has commended KGL Technology Limited, operators of the official short code of the authority’s *959# for a solid partnership and good working relationship".

"The authority is acknowledging the various roles KGL Technology Limited has played in resolving some financial issues recently, which otherwise would have plunged the authority into some level of crisis".

Read the full statement below

NLA Commends Operators of *959# for Positive Partnership

The National Lottery Authority (NLA) has commended KGL Technology Limited, operators of the official short code of the authority’s *959# for a solid partnership and good working relationship.

The authority is acknowledging the various roles KGL Technology Limited has played in resolving some financial issues recently, which otherwise would have plunged the authority into some level of crisis.

Key among these issues is the recent financial challenges that were encountered by the authority largely due to High Winning Ratios recorded over a long period of time.

The Win Ratios were exceeding the sales/revenue generated and this brought about some considerable level of liquidity challenges.

However, a licensed partner company, KGL Technology Limited timely offered the authority life-saving antidotes to resolve this situation. We are grateful for such help.

KGL Technology Limited is a leading digital online lotto marketing company, assisting the NLA to fully implement its digitalization programme.

Meanwhile, the NLA wants to set the records straight on a publication dated Wednesday, March 17, 2021, by The Finder newspaper captioned "KGL'S NLA BAIL OUT RAISES KEY QUESTIONS AS 6 YEAR'S REVENUE OF NLA SHOWS POSITIVE BALANCE"

We want to state categorically that the publication is misleading, manufactured lies, outright fabrications and never represent the true picture of the financial records at the NLA.

In his analysis of the NLA financial records, the Editor of The Finder and writer of the article, Mr. Elvis Darko, completely failed to factor the following key financial obligations of the authority in his calculations:

1. Payment of commission to Lotto Marketing Companies over the last six (6) years.

2. Payment of fees to the Technical Service Providers over the last six (6) years.

3. Statutory Payments to the Consolidated Fund over the last (6) six years.

4. Payment of salaries, allowances and other benefits to the employees of the authority over the last (6) six years.

5. Cost of day-to-day administration and operations of the NLA over the last six (6) years.

6. Payment for contracts executed by individual companies over the last six (6) years.

7. Other financial expenses of the authority over the last six (6) years.

Clearly, Mr. Elvis Darko limited his analysis to revenue and payments of prizes (wins) which clearly amounted to gross unprofessionalism and deliberate dishonesty.

We, therefore, urged the general public to totally ignore it and treat it with a pinch of salt.

We are also urging all stakeholders and employees of the authority to remain calm as the authority takes all the necessary steps to address the concerns of the lottery industry.

The NLA is assuring the general public and stakeholders that it is taking more pragmatic steps to address all current challenges and bounce back stronger as the leading lottery regulator and operator in Africa.

Issued by: Public Relations Unit of NLA