The Fourth Estate, an award-winning investigative media organisation, has revealed how, in 2021, the National Lottery Authority (NLA), led by former Director General Sammy Awuku, distributed money intended for the poor and orphans to prominent politicians and celebrities through the Good Causes Foundation.
As exposed by the investigative body, NLA documents state that the foundation was created in response to the law’s requirements that the authority create a special lottery for the underprivileged.
The said law is section 2(3) of Act 722.
The section states, “There shall be conducted as part of the operation of National Lotto, a lottery with the object of providing care and protection for the physically or mentally afflicted, the needy, the aged, orphans, and destitute children.”
However, the Good Causes Foundation squandered millions of cedis on glitzy events and other dubious ventures, which ran counter to the organization’s stated mission.
A significant portion of the foundation’s funding was used to sponsor prestigious organisations and events, according to data on disbursements that The Fourth Estate has access to. For instance, the Ghana CEO Awards were given GHC350,000, but the EMY Africa Awards were given GHC90,000. The Ghana Club 100 Awards from the GIPC had GHC200,000, while Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko’s Africa Prosperity Network Awards had GHC250,000. Glitz Africa publications received GHC 80,000 for the Ghana Women of the Year award, and GHC 50,000 for the Ashanti Business Leaders Excellence Awards.
The then-Ministry of Public Enterprises received GHC50,000 for a research tour of Singapore, the Governance and Business Leadership Awards earned GHC20,000, and the Information Services Department (ISD) received GHC40,000 for its Government PROs Awards.
In addition to GHC 50,000 for the fifth anniversary celebration of the free senior high school program, the National Labour Commission was given GHC 180,000 for local conferences and GHC 70,000 to attend an international labour conference in Geneva. Additionally, JIT Magazine and Diary had GHC 100,000 for the publication of the presidential diary.
And it didn’t end there. In the constituency where he would later run for office and win, the NLA, led by Mr. Awuku, who is currently the Member of Parliament for Akuapem North, likewise used money intended for the impoverished to build police stations and an astroturf.
The NLA also awarded GHC50,000 for the memoir project of Asamoah Gyan, a former captain of the Black Stars and one of the wealthiest football players in the nation, who resides in a mansion worth USD 3 million.
There are plenty others.
MPs from both political parties received over a million cedis for personal causes, while the Chief of Staff’s office received GHC350,000 for the Independence Day pomp. In the meantime, GHC570,000 was available for conferences and seminars at the Attorney General’s office.
At a period when orphanages depended on philanthropic donations to live and psychiatric hospitals in the nation continued to be chronically underfunded and overcrowded, the NLA distributed these freebies.
