January 20

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News
DAILY
HERITAGE, MONDAY, JANUARY 20, 2020 WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
Residents invade police
station for blood of robbers
NLA to regulate
activities of GLOA
NEWS DESK REPORT
•Officials of NLA and Ghana Lotto Operators Association
THE NATIONAL Lotto Act, 2006 (Act 722)
was enacted for the National Lottery Authority
(NLA) to operate and to regulate all lottery in
Ghana.
Based on this, section 2(4) of Act 722 gives
NLA the mandate to collaborate with other
parties to operate lotto or lottery in Ghana.
The Veterans Administration Ghana Act
2012 (Act 844) vests in the Veterans
Administration, Ghana (VAG) the mandate to
hold lottery, lotto and other games of chance in
accordance with the National Lotto Act, 2006
(Act 722), to cater for the welfare of retired
personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces.
In a joint release issued by NLA and Ghana
Lotto Operators Association, (GLOA) in
pursuance of Section 22 of Act 844, VAG
licensed five Private Sector Operators (PSOs) to
operate the VAG Lotto upon agreed terms and
conditions which committed the five PSOs to
make huge financial commitments towards the
operation of the VAG Lotto.
In 2013, NLA went to court to seek an
interpretation of Section 22 of Act 844.
By the ruling of His Lordship Francis Obiri
J, the Court upheld the right of VAG to operate
its Lotto, but “in accordance with” the National
Lotto Act, 2006 (Act 722), thereby recognising
the regulatory function of NLA over lotteries in
Ghana.
The court process delayed VAG Lotto
operations and rendered the five companies
unable to operate the VAG Lotto.
In July 2018, VAG entered into a
collaboration agreement with NLA to operate
VAG Lotto. The PSOs were of the view that
the execution of this collaboration agreement
constituted an infringement on their Agreement
with VAG.
In February 2018, the Board of NLA caused
an advert to be placed in some newspapers,
including the two national daily newspapers,
inviting private sector lotto operators to apply to
operate an NLA-approved Banker-to-Banker
Lotto under Act 722.
Several PSOs responded to the advert, paid
the prescribed licensing fees and some
submitted the required security guarantees.
After a year of not receiving their licensing
certificates from NLA, this state of affairs
incensed PSOs to organize a press conference in
Accra. This press conference was seen as a
national security threat according to the
National Security Apparatus, Police CID and the
government at large.
After an invitation to the Bureau of National
Investigations to give their statement, the PSOs
and NLA were subsequently invited to
mediation at the Police CID Headquarters in
Accra in October 2019, to resolve the impasse.
After four meetings, the parties agreed to set
up a Joint Technical Committee made up of
four representatives each from NLA and the
PSO to resolve the impasse.
After exhaustive deliberations by the Joint
Technical Committee, spanning eight weeks, the
parties agree as follows:
NLA shall restore the PSOs who previously
held licences issued by VAG under new terms
and conditions with effect from January 1, 2020.
Under the terms of this contract licensed PSOs
will migrate from paper-writing to an I.T.
platform for effective monitoring, regulation,
and more revenue mobilization to the State.
The NLA, in place of its advertised Bankerto-Banker
Lotto operation under Act 722, for
which fees were paid, has offered qualified PSOs
the opportunity to participate in the 5/90 Fixed
Odds Game, under the full regulation and
supervision of the NLA, in accordance with
Section 2(4), to ensure increased private sector
lotto revenue to the State.
The Parties shall execute two separate
contracts covering the qualified PSOs operation
of the VAG Lotto under Act 844 , and
qualified PSO participation in NLA 5/90 Fixed
Odds Game in accordance with Section 2(4) of
Act 722.
The Parties have planned a nationwide
sensitization campaign in January 2020 to
educate the lotto public, the general public and
all citizens on the Lotto Laws of Ghana, duties
and responsibilities in modern lotto operations;
and targeted training for sales agents and writers.
This sensitization will also help explain
Government’s efforts in resolving this 30-year
impasse about private sector participation in
lotto, which has created upheavals for all
governments since 1992.
To ensure smooth implementation of the
roadmap towards the successful adherence to
the signed contracts, the Joint Technical
Committee has put in place Joint Dispute
Resolution Mechanisms, to forestall unilateral
breaches, unfavourable media publicity or
adverse actions that may create national security
concerns.
NLA shall provide a detailed compliance
manual to guide the effective regulation of
private sector participation in Lotto.
The Board of NLA and the leadership of
GLOA, the umbrella organisation championing
the rights of the private sector lotto operators in
Ghana, wish to extend their gratitude to the
Government of Ghana and the Police CID for
the opportunity given to bring ground-breaking
reforms to the lottery sector for greater
employment generation; for ensuring that the
employment rights of ordinary Ghanaian
citizens are upheld at all times; and for making it
possible for private sector participation in lotto
to contribute significantly to national
development.
BY KOJO ANSAH
ANGRY RESIDENTS of
Nkurakan have besieged
the Nkurakan Police
Station under the New
Juaben Municipal Police
Command in the
Eastern Region threatening to lynch
two suspected armed robbers
The robbers were among a sixmember
gang of robbers pursued by
the residents in the Mile -14
community and other areas along the
Adukrom-Koforidua highways after
alarm blew over their robbery attack.
Residents in some communities
along the road reportedly mounted
roadblocks in search of the fleeing
suspects.
The two suspects, after running
into the bush, appeared at the roadside
and boarded a commercial vehicle but
were arrested at the Nkrukan police
checkpoint and handed over to the
Nkrukan police.
Residents in the community
trooped to the police station and
Busac Fund Supports NARRA Advocacy
for Circular Economy Policy
BY RAMSON ACQUAH-HAYFORD
THE PRESIDENT of the National
Reuse and Recyclers’ Association
(NARRA), John Tetteh Commey, has
stated that rapid population growth
and urbanization and their attendant
pressures on resource utilization and
waste creation have made it necessary
for Ghana to begin to explore more
innovative and sustainable ways of
maximizing the benefits of the
production and consumption
processes.
Speaking at a stakeholder’s
workshop under the auspices of the
Business Sector Advocacy Challenge
(BUSAC) Fund for the formulation of
a Resource Recovery and Circular
Economy Policy for Ghana, Mr
Commey said phenomena like global
warming, climate change, and carbon
emissions were all competing for
appropriate policy interventions across
the world.
He said further that environmental
and social challenges demand
increasing attention policy initiatives
which can keep pace with the growth
in the scale of these challenges.
Mr Commey explained that the
principle of waste as Material-In-
Transition (MINT), as espoused in the
Revised National Environmental
Sanitation Policy, 2010 laid some
foundation for the formulation of a
circular economy policy.
He said “this is essentially an
economy in which economic activities
derive value under the conditions that
an existing resource stock within the
system is continuously re-circulated to
maintain its maximum value and utility
over time, enabling the viable and
sustainable use of resources. All
activities during product life cycle
stages are designed to circulate the
resources, and support the
preservation and regeneration of the
biosphere so that hazardous outputs
are eliminated and regional resources
are not degraded.”
He added that the current linear
model of production based on “a take,
make, and dispose approach, which
relies heavily on exploitation of virgin
natural resources and disposal of
wastes and emissions, appeared
increasingly outdated and
unsustainable.
He stated that, “Advanced regions
of the world such as Europe and parts
of Asia are beginning to adopt the idea
of a Circular Economy (CE) in pursuit
of a more sustainable use of natural
resources which impose progressively
less demand for virgin raw materials.
“Ghana must seriously consider this
paradigm shift by formulating an
appropriate National Resource
Recovery and Circular Economy
Policy. Times are changing at a
frightening speed and we need to
position ourselves in a way that reflects
a deep understanding of these new
dynamics and points our country in a
demanded the release of the suspects
to brutally deal with them. This forced
the local police to move the suspects
to the Regional Police Headquarters.
Some residents say the robbers have
been terrorizing them in the area.
The Deputy Public Relations
Officer of the Eastern Regional Police
Command, Sargent Francis Gomado,
told ‘Starr News’, the police had
launched a manhunt for the four other
robbers on the run.
The Koforidua Adukrom -Aseseeso
road is notorious for robbery attacks,
some of which have resulted in deaths
and injuries.
The Koforidua Circuit Court ‘B’,
presided over by Her Honour Mercy
Addei Kottey, on June 7, 2019, jailed
two foreign residents - a Beninois and
a Nigerian for their involvement in
highway robbery on the Adukrom to
Koforidua road.
The two convicts – Ibrahim Ajayi
Kupenu, 25, the Beninois, and Frank
Ude, alias Asoani, the Nigerian, were
convicted to 20 years’ imprisonment
each with hard labour.
direction of sustainable resource
utilization”.
At the workshop, Mr Tetteh
Commey tasked the NARRA Dialogue
Team to commence the necessary
policy negotiations for the formulation
of a Resource Recovery and Circular
Economy Policy for Ghana.
• Dompoase accident:
Driver detained
in police
custody
BY SENANU DAMILOLA
WEMAKOR
The driver who is believed to
have caused Tuesday’s fatal
accident at Dompoase has
been remanded in police
custody for two weeks
pending investigation.
Kasapa FM’s
correspondent Yaw Boagyan
reported this from the
Central Region on Friday.
A government delegation
led by Roads and Highways
Minister, Kwaku Amoako
Attah, visited the accident
scene and the survivors at
the Cape Coast Teaching
Hospital
Members of the
delegation included NRSC
Director, May Obiri Yeboah,
GPRTU Chairman, Kwame
Kumah, Central Regional
Minister, Kwamena Duncan,
and Central Region Police
Commander, COP Paul
Manly Awini, among others.
The minister urged
survivors and families of
victims to take heart and give
glory to God for all things.
Out of the 35 bodies of
victims deposited at the
Cape Coast Hospital
morgue, 28 have so far been
identified by families.
The driver who
is believed to
have caused
Tuesday’s fatal
accident at
Dompoase has
been remanded
in police
custody for two
weeks pending
investigation.