The commission has over the years received backlash from some Ghanaians who claimed some primary school children have been spending school hours and weekends engaging in gambling.

The commission subsequently set up a taskforce to clamp down on the activities of illegal gaming operators and gambling centers that were being patronized by children.

Speaking to the media during a familiarization tour of the commission by the country’s Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery and his deputy Henry Quartey, the deputy commissioner, Fredrick Kobby Annan said they were positive the campaign will generate the desired results.

According to him, although the taskforce made up of officials of the Commission and the Ghana Police Service, has since the beginning of the year clamped down on many centers and seizing machines, the campaign will get all other stakeholders including parents and guardians involved.

“Now we have a lot of monitoring teams visiting various sites to make sure children are not engaging in these gambling. We know how vulnerable children are and of course people would want to make their money but it shouldn’t be at their expense. We know this has become a menace but our human capacity resource is limited but we are trying to improve it and soon we will be able to get to every hook and cranny of the country.”

He further added that stringent measures have been put in place to ensure the commission carries out its duty as the regulator of the gaming industry.

“We are here to protect the community and once we get the support promised by the interior minister we will be able to do so much more. Now before we even issue a license we go to inspect the venue and location. Our monitoring teams make sure it is not close to a school. We always revoke licenses of legally registered companies who we find breaking our laid down rules, we don’t compromise.”

On his part, the Interior Ministry, Ambrose Dery pledged the support of his sector and called for more collaborative effort between the two parties to bring finality to some menace facing the gambling industry.

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By: Felicia Osei/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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According to him, the Gaming Act 2006 (Act 721) does not provide sufficient control measures for the management of the commercial operations hence the influx of such centers.

[contextly_sidebar id=”EPPGiw4Zk0GU7yRDSYBNAqM6u5BTpLmk”]Delivering a statement on the floor of the Parliament, John Ntim Fordjour noted that, although statistics show that the National Gaming Commission issued licences to only twenty-three (23) casinos, twelve (12) sports betting companies and four (4) route machines (slot machines), the number of companies operating in these areas far exceed the number of licenses issued, indicating that some of the centres were operating illegally.

He said gambling presented many social impacts including behavioural disorder, fraud, financial crises and sometime suicide.

“This country does not possess the requisite resilience and capacity to contain the grave ramifications and hazards that the current state of gambling liberalization potentially poses. Therefore, the proliferation of commercial gambling must be strongly discouraged in our society.. Mr. Speaker, the principle and practice of commercial gambling and the proliferation thereof, are fundamentally alien to and in-congruent with the rich and bold cultural values of our beloved nation-state Ghana,” he said.

“In the next thirty (30) years, we do not wish to see a population rather skillful at gambling and objectionable quick-money-generating ventures, flawed with addiction and gambling-related psychological disorders. I believe we would wish to build a society of honest, hardworking and productive population, endeavoring within a safe and competitive environment epitomized by entrepreneurial and job opportunities. We should seek to build a society in which our indigenous cultural values are preserved and sustained across successive generations, but not traded for insubstantial commercial gains,” he added.

He suggested that, the relevant stakeholders including the Ministry of Interior and Metropolitan Municipal and District Assemblies should constitute the ‘Gaming Regulatory Task Force’ to ensure strict enforcement of the current Gaming laws while considerations are made to amend it.

He also called on the media, religious and civil society organizations to help address the issue.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @jnyabor

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