The management and staff of the National Lottery Authority (NLA) on Friday embarked a clean up exercise in and around their vicinity as part of its 50th anniversary celebration in Accra.

During the two-and-a-half hour exercise, staff of NLA weeded and desilted drains with assistance from Zoomlion Ghana.

Mr. George Addo Yobo, Director of Operations- NLA, briefing newsmen after the exercise stressed the need to ensure cleanliness by creating new platform in the authority’s operations.

“We are 50 years therefore we cannot operate in a filthy environment, we need a healthy and fruitful environment to operate within, “he added.

Mr. Addo Yobo pointed out that the exercise would afford the management and staff an opportunity to interact with each other.

Mr. Kplorlai Shine Gbologa, Officer-in-charge of Business Development- NLA, said the exercise marked the beginning of activities lined up for the anniversary.

He said the celebration begun on Friday, June 22 and would end in October to include a presentation to the patients at Ankaful and Pantang Hospitals.

Mr. Gbologa said, to create awareness in the society, the staff would embark on a nation-wide float, interact with the media and organise series of fora.

NLA, the pioneer in lottery business was established in 1962 by the late Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's First President as the Department of National Lottery.**