National Organiser of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Sammi Awuku, has been appointed as the Director-General of the National Lottery Authority (NLA).
His appointment has been approved by the Council of State, in line with the law governing the appointment of the head of the NLA organisation.
Until his latest appointment, Awuku also served as the board chairman of the Youth Employment Agency (YEA), a specialised government agency which has the mandate to co-ordinate and facilitate employment opportunities for young people in Ghana. Awuku is expected to resign from his position as NPP national organiser.
Awuku takes over from the former Director-General, Kofi Osei Ameyaw, who was directed by President Akufo-Addo on the 10th of March 2021, in a letter signed by the Secretary to the President, Nana Bediatuo Asante, to hand over to the Finance Director, Ernest Mortey, after his one-year contract elapsed in February.
Mr. Awuku is joining the NLA months after staff of the authority threatened to withdraw their services over challenges the authority was going through that led to the non-payment of lottery wins for several months. The workers in March 2021 also said the poor management of the authority also resulted in the inability to pay salaries for the month of February 2021. The National Labour Commission subsequently stepped in and directed the workers to abort their threats.
Profile
Awuku, who is greatly admired for his passion and commitment to the NPP faithful, is a product of St. Augustine’s College, Cape Coast. He is highly regarded for his work towards strengthening democratic governance and promoting youth empowerment, as well as his public sector management and institutional governance skills.
He holds a Master’s degree in international relations from the Freie Universität Berlin in Germany, a certificate in public leadership from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in the United States and a diploma of higher education in law from the University of London.
He also holds a postgraduate certificate in public administration from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), a postgraduate certificate in advertising, marketing and public relations from the Ghana Institute of Journalism and a BA in political science and psychology from the University of Ghana, Legon.
Until recently, he was director of strategy and innovation at April-June Co Ltd in Accra and also a director of the Brain Hill International School. He has also served as a board member of the Accra City Hotel from 2017 to date.
Youth icon
In the past, Awuku has been elected three times to serve as the vice-chairman of the International Young Democrat Union (IYDU), an international association of the youth wings of centre-right parties across the world. He is also a proud alumnus of the American Council for Young Political Leaders (ACYPL), a global platform for identifying and nurturing talent among young future leaders.
In 2014 he was named one of the top 50 rising African stars by the Paris-based Africa Report magazine. And in August 2017 he was named “Continental Youth Icon†by the All Africa Students’ Union (AASU) in recognition of his long-standing contributions towards youth development on the African continent.
Apart from this, he has volunteered his services and provided strategic guidance at various stages to assist the development of various civil society platforms aimed at consolidating democracy and advocating public sector reform in Ghana.
National Lottery Authority
The NLA, where Awuku will be serving, is a public service institution designed to provide a corporate platform that encourages creativity, innovation and best management practice.
The Authority was first established as the Department of National Lotteries in 1958, with a mandate to organise prize raffles for the public. In 1960, the Lotto and Betting Act (Act 94) was passed into law to launch a lottery in Ghana with the aim of raising revenue to support national development.
Over the past 50 years, the NLA has evolved and been transformed into an autonomous public service institution with a legal monopoly over the organisation of lotteries in Ghana. It is one of the single most important contributors to both government revenue and employment generation. In 2006, the passage of the National Lotto Act (Act 722) gave birth to the National Lottery Authority.
Work ahead
The NLAs slogan is “Development through gamesâ€. Awuku will be expected to work with his team to make this a reality.
He will also be responsible for spearheading the NLAs vision to create moments of hope and happiness through exciting lottery games which generate revenue for national development and ultimately make all stakeholders winners.
Sammi Awuku is expected to lead several reforms at the NLA in line with the President’s vision to reposition the NLA as a major income earner and create wealth for Ghanaians.
The NLA has as its declared mission to become the organisation of choice and blueprint for lotteries in Africa.