African Lotteries Association elects Sammi Awuku as Vice President

The National Lottery Authority (NLA) of Ghana’s Mr. Samuel Awuku was chosen as the Vice President of the African Lotteries Association (ALA) during its General Meeting on March 8, 2024, in Casablanca, Morocco. This is a big step for the ALA.

Since the ALA’s founding in December 1981, no Director-General from an Anglophone nation has held the position of Vice Presidency until this momentous election.

The purpose of the ALA General Meeting, which brought together members from all across the continent, was to elect new leaders for the organization’s Executive Committee and to examine the Activity Report.

Mr. Dramane Coulibaly, the Co-Opted Member of ALA to the World Lottery Association (WLA) as a Regional Representative and Director-General for the Loterie Nationale de Cote d’Ivoire (LONACI), was re-elected as President of ALA for a four-year term.

Mr. Younes El Meshrafi has been replaced as General Secretary of the association by Mr. Omar Skali, Director-General of SOREC in Morocco.

As for the ALA, which is predominately Francophone, the election of Mr. Samuel Awuku of Ghana to the position of Vice President is a step in the direction of more representation for Anglophone nations.

At the moment, ALA has sixteen member organizations representing fifteen African nations; the only Anglophone members are Ghana and Liberia.

Given that the poll was held while Mr. Awuku was not present, the fiercely fought election signifies a major vote of confidence by his colleagues.

The ALA views Mr. Awuku’s election as a turning point in its efforts to improve the integration and participation of Anglophone nations in the organization.

The President of Malta, H.E. Dr. George Vella, was on a working visit to NLA, thus Mr. Awuku was unable to attend in person. However, he was ably represented by Mr. Andrew Tuah, the NLA Head of Operations, and Mr. Johnson Adu, the Bilingual Communications Officer.

Source: Ghanatodayonline.com