Until recently, a racket within the Department of National Lotteries (DNL) reportedly milked the department for decades by releasing numbers they had staked every week to win billions of cedis.

This, the fraudsters did by manipulating the operating machine at every draw to release numbers they had staked. Such was the drain on the DNL that it was forced to purchase a different machine.

Chronicle learnt this in an interview with the personnel manager of the department, Mr S.A. Damoah. He said it had become abundantly clear that some “crook technicians” within the management were manipulating the machine. As a result, Damoah state, there was no choice but to procure a different machine that would not yield to such manipulations, and administrative manager of the department, Mr Emmanuel Kermah, negotiated for one that had been used by a group of expatriates operating the 5/90 lotto.

He said the purchase of the new machine raised objections, adding that even after the purchase of the machine DNL continues to make losses but he blamed the current losses on the proliferation of private lotto companies. According to him, the private lotto companies pay higher than the national lotto, thereby posing serious threats to DNL.

He said due to this, DNL cannot contribute effectively to the development of the country. He revealed that the deputy Minister for Finance, Mrs Grace Coleman, suspecting illicit deals in the Accounts section of DNL had issued a letter to the Department to transfer all the accounting class by 15 March.

Upon consideration, however, the department declared the letter null and void, owing to the fact that there were no staff to replace them. Asked why there were given a written warning to transfer the accounting class, Damoah said the minister might have suspected mismanagement in the lotteries. “The issue of mismanagement looks apparent because of the inefficiency and inability of the organisation to contribute effectively to national development but this has come about because of the poor sales of the lotteries.”

Mrs Coleman, on her part, said the letter was not meant to be implemented on the stated date, 15 March, but rather it was addressed to the Controller and Accounting General to audit the DNL and to restructure its management.

Chronicle investigations revealed that some members of the Ladies Association in the department are at loggerheads with the personnel manager over an appointment of his alleged girlfriend at the place. Fuming, the ladies told the Chronicle that Damoah has employed his girlfriend, Lorraine Harris, who was a lotto seller at the premises of the DNL as clerical secretary. They said Damoah employed Ms Harris as a secretary, knowing very well that she had no requisite qualification.

They said at the time they started opposing him on the issue of her qualifications, he dispatched her to a polytechnic to undertake a secretarial course on study leave, but when she graduated from the school as a typist, Damoah promoted her to qualify for a two-bedroom house, like a senior staff. They explained that no worker of DNL is entitled to a senior bungalow, unless they have worked for the organisation for five years, but added that Harris has worked for four years.

The personnel manager in reaction to the allegation, admitted that he could not dispute the fact that Harris had not worked for the company for five years and therefore does not qualify for the two-bedroom house. His defence, however, was that at the time they were giving out the rooms, some of the members of the association refused to accept their allocations and therefore, he gave one to Harris.