Increase in fraud and COVID factors decisive in Ghanain prize delays

As reported by the Ghanain Times, Ghana’s National Lottery Authority has announced there will be delays regarding the paying out of winning tickets, citing both COVID-19 and an increase in fraud as the main factors.

The delay follows an internal decision made by the National Lottery Authority (NLA), which is the implementation of a shit system, that has been made in order to protect the Ghanain operators’ employees from the COVID-19 pandemic

A statement from the NLA read: “Inasmuch as we are ever willing to satisfy the staking public, lotto discounters and lotto marketing companies, it is equally important for NLA to also take pragmatic steps to protect the lives of the employees of the Authority in this difficult period of the Coronavirus pandemic.”

Despite the delay, the NLA has reiterated and reassured the public that lottery winners will in time receive their rightful prizes despite the enforced COVID delays. 

In addition to the COVID impacts, the NLA also discussed the importance of verifying winning tickets before a payout is made due to the level of fraud within the lottery industry, and as such the Authority reiterated that thorough investigation and validation of winning tickets may also cause some delays in the payment of winning prizes.

The statement concluded: “From the above stated reasons, we are humbly urging the staking public, lotto discounters and lotto marketing companies to promptly register their respective winning tickets at nearby regional and district offices of the National Lottery Authority (NLA) or even at the Authority’s Head Office for thorough validation and investigation of the winning tickets before payment.”