Lotto Writers Protest Against Police Harassment

District Weekly Lotto operators, popularly known as "Banker-to-Banker" have protested over what they say are the numerous arrests of their members by a team of police and members of the Lotto Receivers Union.

Speaking at a press conference in Accra last Friday, the chairman of the National Association of Lotto Writers, Mr. Mark Bosompem, accused the police of extortion, harassment and abuse of their rights. He said members are prepared to resist any further harassment and illegal arrests by the police or any group of persons if the practice is not stopped at once.

He said contrary to public perception, the business of banker-to-banker, is legal and based on the Weekly Lotto Amendment Law, 1990 (PNDC 223), which allows operators to use the weekly draws of the National Lotteries. "It is illegal and unconstitutional for the police and the Receivers Union to carry out such arrests on our members" he said, "we therefore condemn their actions and call on them to stop any future arrests and extortion".

On Saturday October 5, 2002, Mr. Bosompem said 31 lotto agents and writers in Accra were arrested by the police and members of the Receivers Union from the Department of National Lotteries. Those arrested, he said, were put behind bars at Chorkor, Ministries and the Striking Force police stations and released only after they paid sums of money between 50,000 and 100,000 cedis to the police.

The chairman also accused the police of taking advantage of the high level of ignorance about the law, to exploit them. He cited incidents where police personnel are challenged to justify their actions with the law, which they failed to do so and rather "vanished" from the scene.

For this reason, he said, the association would embark on a nationwide legal awareness campaign for its members in order to educate them on their rights. The association has however organised various educational sessions for its members in Accra.

He said the concept of District Weekly Lotto was introduced to create employment opportunities for ordinary people and also to assist in raising revenue for District Assemblies to undertake development projects.

He denied that operators fail to meet their social responsibilities of committing a portion of their earnings to specific developments in the communities where they operate. The law requires that banker-to-banker operators pay 7.5 per cent of their total annual revenue to District Assemblies.

Mr. Bosompeh appealed to the Inspector General Police to stop the policemen involved from tarnishing the image of the service.