Taxes, Revenues, Licences: RTI Request Filed For Full Lottery Sector Records In Five Years

A private citizen has formally petitioned the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the National Lottery Authority (NLA) for extensive financial and operational records relating to lottery and gaming companies operating in Ghana, invoking provisions of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2019 (Act 989).
In two separate letters dated May 10, 2026, and signed by the newspaper’s Managing Editor, Mr. Ayisah Foster, the publication requested detailed information covering taxes, licence fees, revenues, penalties, lottery operations and financial performance spanning several years between 2020 and 2025.
In its request to the GRA, Mr. Ayisah Foster asked the Commissioner-General to disclose the taxes collected between 2020 and 2025 from 36 companies operating within the lottery and gaming ecosystem.
The companies include KGL Technology Limited, Onassis Sports Limited, Alpha Lotto Limited, Game Park Ltd, Afrilotto System Ltd, SIMNET Ghana Limited, TekStart Africa Limited and several others.
The Petitioner stated that the information is being sought under Section 18 of the RTI Act, which grants citizens and institutions the right to request access to information held by public institutions.
In a separate and more extensive application to the NLA, Mr. Ayisah Foster requested details of licence fees and revenues received from 33 lottery-related companies from 2020 to 2025.
Beyond the licensing information, he also demanded financial records relating to three technical service providers, Lots-Services Ghana Limited, SIMNET Ghana Limited and TekStart Africa Limited; seeking to know the total amount paid to them by the NLA between 2018 and 2025.
The publication further requested revenue figures generated through three USSD lottery platforms: *890#, reportedly operated by TekStart Africa Limited; *896#, linked to Alpha Lotto Limited; and *859#, associated with Onassis Sports Limited.
He also asked the NLA to clarify whether the three companies were duly licensed to operate the respective mobile lottery platforms.
If they were not licensed, he requested details of any penalties imposed on them for allegedly operating illegally.
The RTI request extends to the NLA’s historical financial records, including total current liabilities from 2012 to 2020, annual 5/90 lottery revenues over the same period, total prize payouts, and yearly lotto prize-to-revenue ratios, commonly referred to as win ratios.
Additionally, the Petitioner is seeking information on the total lotto commissions paid to marketing companies selling lottery products through kiosks and point-of-sale terminals on behalf of the Authority.
One of the more significant aspects of the request concerns revenues generated from live lottery draws conducted by Alpha Lotto Limited on Ghana Television (GTV).
He asked the NLA to disclose how much revenue it received from those broadcasts, while citing provisions of the National Lotto Act, 2006 (Act 722) and the Lottery Regulations, 2008 (L.I. 1948), which mandate the NLA to conduct and supervise lottery draws in Ghana.
He also challenged long-standing claims regarding the NLA’s financial contributions to the state, requesting documentary evidence to support assertions that the Authority generated annual revenues or profits ranging from GH¢500 million to GH¢3 billion between 2007 and 2020 for the Consolidated Fund.
Furthermore, he requested details on licence fees and revenues generated from the mobile lottery applications myalphaonline.com and theb2blotto.com between 2020 and 2025, as well as the identities of the companies licensed by the NLA to operate the platforms.
Copies of both RTI applications were sent to the Ministry of Finance and the respective board chairpersons of the GRA and NLA.
The requests are expected to intensify scrutiny of Ghana’s lottery and gaming sector, particularly regarding taxation, licensing arrangements, regulatory oversight and the financial performance of both private operators and the National Lottery Authority.