The Director General of National Lottery Authority (NLA), Kofi Osei-Ameyaw has vowed to soon clamp down on activities of illegal lottery operators, popularly referred to as “Banker to Banker” despite several appeals by the latter to have their operations regularized.
Mr. Osei-Ameyaw recently hinted on establishing a Lotto Taskforce to prosecute and haul “Banker to Banker” operators before Lotto Courts established nationwide.
“We hope what we hear is not true because it would mean that thousands of Ghanaians would be deprived of their livelihood although no one can tell us what we are doing is completely inimical to the State”, a Banker To Banker operator told The New Crusading GUIDE yesterday.
Explaining why they should be made to stay in business despite the fact that per the prevailing laws, Banker To Banker is illegal, one of the operators at Tudu in Accra suggested to the government to formalise their operations by imposing taxes on them as a means of generating revenue for the country.
He also suggested that they must be made to register with the NLA since they make use of results declared by the NLA in their operations. “Leaving banker to banker in its current state implies loss of huge sums of money that should otherwise have gone to the state so the government must find ways of incorporating us instead of pushing us away”, he added .
“Now that Courts have been set up specially for us, then it means government is bent on clamping down on us but that is not the best way out”, he stated.
It would be recalled that the Chief Justice, in collaboration with the National Lottery Authority, recently designated 11 specialised Circuit Courts across the country to prosecute illegal lotto operators. Out of the 11 courts, two are in Accra with one each in the other regions.
The designated courts are Accra Circuit Courts 1 and 2, Tema Circuit Court B, Kumasi Circuit Court 4, Takoradi Circuit Court, Sunyani Circuit Court A, Koforidua Circuit Court B, Cape Coast Circuit Court 1, Ho, Tamale and Wa Circuit courts.
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