Sammi Awuku, the Director-General of the National Lottery Authority (NLA), has said that President Nana Akufo-Addo gave him insightful counsel when he was appointed to his role. 

According to him, the President warned him to exercise prudence in how he conducted himself and that, upon his resignation, he would be held responsible for his work. 

In an interview on JoyNews' Personality Profile, Sammi Awuku said President Akufo-Addo told him that he had a great opportunity to make people and himself proud of the office. 

“The president’s marching orders were quite clear. 

“It is a big stage, and I know you can do it. But he also said, remember, this is a public office, and one day there will be accountability. When I left the president’s end, these words echoed,” he said in a report by adomonline.com.

The former National Organiser of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) disclosed that he had no prior knowledge of the lottery sector before he was appointed. 

Having come from a political background, Sammi Awuku said he realized that if he went into the post with a political mindset, it would not work. 

“When the president was sending me there, I didn’t know Jack about that space. I knew nothing. It took about 10 days to really read about the NLA, the reviews, and all that. 

“I sat down and needed to profile the NLA from afar. I needed to learn about what they do, and I came from a heavily political background. I was a serving national organiser of the ruling New Patriotic Party, and I knew that if I went there with a political mentality, it would not work,” he said.

KA/EK