“As part of the government reforms that we intend to roll out under the new administration led by President John Dramani Mahama, the overall objective is to reform, redirect and improve op­erations. The NLA must generate substantial revenue for the State which will be channelled towards national development,” he stated.

He explained that the new stick­er would serve as a means of iden­tifying licensed lottery operators and writers from illegal ones.

“Beginning September 1, people in the lottery business are expected to sign on to this initiative. This will enable our teams to properly distinguish between those legiti­mately serving the public and those engaged in illegal sale of lottery. We want to sanitise the system so that all revenues fall into the appropriate accounts for the use of the Republic of Ghana,” Mr Abdul-Salam said.

He expressed optimism that the initiative would succeed with the cooperation of stakeholders, stressing that the NLA would not relent in enforcing the rules.

Mr Abdul-Salam urged all lotto operators to acquire the sticker to help enhance lottery.

The Executive Secretary of CLAAG, Mr Kwaku Duah Tawi­ah, also urged members to em­brace the initiative and desist from engaging unregistered operators.

“At long last, the battle has end­ed. The purpose of the stickers is to weed out illegal operators, illegal agents and illegal writers. My advice to the writers is that this time you don’t have to work with any lottery operator who has not duly registered with the NLA. If you do so, you do it at your own risk,” he cautioned.

He further urged private oper­ators to cooperate with the NLA and CLAAG, pointing out that those who had invested heavily in acquiring licences should not allow illegitimate operators to benefit unfairly from their efforts.

“This is our country, and no­body is going to help us develop it. Any money that goes to the wrong pocket does not help us as a nation. Therefore, I am ap­pealing to all lottery operators to support this process. Those who sabotage it will not get the sup­port of CLAAG,” he added.

The Head of Operations of NLA, Mr Andrew Tuah, in his remarks, said that the registration of private lotto agents and writers was launched in September 2024 but delayed due to technical challenges.

“This year, with renewed com­mitment from the Director-Gen­eral, we are going ahead to ensure all writers and agents are duly registered so that sanity is restored to the industry,” he said.

The initiative, he emphasised, marked a “landmark moment” in the lottery sector, paving the way for a transparent, reliable and well-regulated industry that con­tributed meaningfully to Ghana’s development