The Member of Parliament for Akuapem North and former Director-General of the National Lottery Authority (NLA), Samuel “Sammy” Awuku, has issued a blistering rebuttal of a recent investigative exposé by The Fourth Estate, accusing the online portal of misrepresenting the operations of Good Causes, the NLA’s subsidiary/conducting its CSR functions.

The Fourth Estate’s investigation alleged that funds meant for social interventions under Good Causes have instead been channeled into “glamorous events and questionable enterprises,” contrary to the legal mandate of the NLA, which – the investigative report claimed – is supposed to run a special lottery program targeting the poor and needy. According to the report, millions of Ghana cedis were spent on gala dinners, awards sponsorships, and high-profile events instead of core projects.

95% of NLA Good Causes Fund went to transformative projects – Sammi Awuku

In response, Awuku described the report as deeply flawed, “lopsided,” and misleading. He said the outlet conflated and confused different arms of the NLA and misapplied terminology, leading to erroneous conclusions. Below are the key points from his rebuttal, along with critical context and remaining questions.

Key Elements of Awuku’s Rebuttal

1. Distinction between “Good Causes Foundation” and “Caritas / Marketing / Sponsorships”: Awuku contends that the Fourth Estate wrongly mingled the NLA’s marketing, sponsorship, and revenue-generation activities with the funds and mandate of the Good Causes Foundation. He argues that certain high-profile sponsorships (e.g. Ghana CEO Summit, EMY Awards, Ghana Club 100) were not funded from the Good Causes CSR budget, but rather were strategic marketing expenditures tied to the NLA’s Caritas Lottery platform.

He emphasises that those sponsorships were intended to boost the visibility and brand attraction of the NLA/Caritas platform, to bring in corporate partners, and thereby enlarge the funding base that ultimately supports Good Causes projects.

2. Growth in Revenue, and Funding Base, as Justification: Awuku asserts that under his leadership, the Caritas platform’s revenue grew from about GH¢ 100,000 in 2021 to over GH¢ 11 million by 2024, and this growth underpinned the CSR work of Good Causes.

He claims that the majority of funds (he says ~95 %) were channeled to community impact projects—such as building toilet facilities, mechanized boreholes, hospital equipment support, scholarships, and education and youth-oriented programs across Ghana’s 16 regions.

3. Allegations of Misconduct/“Purchased Awards” Rejected: Another contention in the Fourth Estate report was that some awards sponsored by or linked to Good Causes were “bought.” Awuku flatly rejected that claim, saying many award nominations were declined, and those that were accepted were in recognition of collective institutional work rather than individual pay-for awards.

4. Legal Mandate, Mandated CSR, and International Recognition: Awuku defended the Good Causes structure as consistent with the National Lotto Act (Act 722) and its CSR obligations. He cited endorsements from the World Lottery Association and commendation from former Maltese President George Vella as external validation of NLA’s model.

He insisted he left the NLA “in a much better state than I found it,” implying improved governance, transparency, and financial health.

5. Criticism of the Investigative Report: Awuku laments that despite having granted The Fourth Estate an interview (on August 18, 2025), the final publication was “lopsided” and excluded significant achievements of Good Causes. He accuses the outlet of mischief, of focusing disproportionately on glamorous spend while downplaying life‐saving impact.

He also highlighted that the report’s authors confused the NLA’s marketing expenses and sponsorships with the core funds meant for social interventions.

Evaluation and Questions That Remain

While Awuku’s rebuttal is detailed and forceful, the following issues remain open and would benefit from further reporting or investigation:

Audit trail & source documents: It will be critical to see whether line‐item financial records, audits (e.g. from the Auditor-General), or NLA internal documents confirm the allocation of costs between marketing/sponsorship vs direct CSR disbursements.

Proportional allocations: Awuku claims less than 5 % of funds went into event sponsorships. The Fourth Estate report cited specific amounts (e.g. GH¢ 90,000 for EMY Africa Awards, GH¢ 350,000 to Ghana CEO Awards, GH¢ 250,000 to the Africa Prosperity Network Awards) . Do those figures match up in audited financial statements?

Mandate boundaries: Even if sponsorships are for marketing, the question is whether the use of those funds sits comfortably within the legal or regulatory boundaries of what Good Causes / NLA is allowed to do. Is there clarity in the law about what constitutes permissible “marketing vs social intervention” spending?

Beneficiary verification: Claims about community projects (e.g. water, toilets, scholarships) will need independent verification, ideally site visits or testimonies from beneficiaries across regions.

Overlap of roles: Some critics might argue that when a state agency funds events or sponsorships, disentangling branding/marketing from CSR becomes murky—who’s to say where one ends and the other begins?

Fourth Estate confused NLA marketing sponsorships with Good Causes - Awuku points out mischief

Future disclosures: The Fourth Estate has already hinted that more findings are coming. There may be new evidence or deeper financial forensics soon.