Accra: Mr Razak Kojo Opoku, the former Public Relations Officer of the National Lottery Authority (NLA), has defended the partnership between KGL Technology Limited and the NLA, emphasizing its significant contribution to the financial stability of the organization and national development.
According to Ghana News Agency, Mr Opoku highlighted that KGL has played a pivotal role in sustaining the NLA financially through revenue payments, taxes, and social initiatives.
In a statement, Mr Opoku criticized recent publications by The Fourth Estate and the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) as 'misleading and inconsistent,' which suggested that the NLA was not profiting from its collaboration with KGL. He countered these claims by presenting data that demonstrated KGL's substantial financial contributions, including GHS 157.6 million paid to the NLA in 2024 and an expected GHS 170 million in 2025. This would total GHS 327.6 million for the two financial years, challenging assertions that the Authority was not benefiting from the partnership.
KGL reported a profit of GHS 70 million in 2024, while its tax commitments to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) surpassed its net earnings. The statement underscored KGL's role in stabilizing the NLA's finances, which were previously burdened with over GHS 233 million in debts from unpaid prizes, contractors, taxes, and staff contributions between 2012 and 2019. Mr Opoku clarified that the NLA's financial woes predated the KGL partnership, established in November 2019.
Addressing concerns regarding the NLA's transfers to the Consolidated Fund, Mr Opoku explained that these were management decisions separate from the NLA-KGL agreement. He noted that, according to Section 32(3) and (4) of the National Lotto Act, 2006 (Act 722), winnings, commissions, and operational costs must be settled before transferring any remaining funds to the Consolidated Fund. He argued that it was unjust to fault KGL for the NLA's fund transfer issues when other financial obligations remained unmet.
Beyond its business dealings, KGL has been reinvesting a significant portion of its profits, between 50 to 70 percent, into corporate social responsibility projects across the nation. These efforts include establishing a mental health facility in Kumasi with the Asantehene, renovating the Accra Psychiatric Hospital, supporting the Akropong School for the Blind, aiding flood victims in Keta, and sponsoring national sports teams.
Additional initiatives highlighted were scholarships for orphans and underprivileged children, an annual GHS 2 million contribution to the NLA Good Causes Foundation, and a GHS 3 million allocation to the NLA-KGL Stabilisation Fund. Mr Opoku concluded by asserting that the NLA-KGL partnership is a 'mutually beneficial arrangement' that strengthens the NLA's sustainability and contributes to national development through tax revenues, employment, and community investments.
