“I will cancel betting if I become president because betting is an avenue for lazy people” – Hassan Ayariga

Hassan Ayariga, the founder of the All People’s Congress (APC), has promised that if elected president of Ghana, he will outlaw sports betting in the country.

The nation has seen an increase in sports betting in recent years, and earlier this year, the government took steps to impose taxes on the activity. In August, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) formally enacted a 10% withholding tax on all gambling, gaming, and lottery winnings.

The politician claims that the high unemployment rate forces young people to turn to betting, and he has pledged to make sure the activity is banned.

“I will cancel betting if I become president because betting is an avenue for lazy people. Why do you bet? Because they have no jobs,” Hassan Ayariga stated on 3FM.

“I will cancel betting, and make it illegal in my country. What do you mean by betting when I need young people like them to sit behind computers and design things and build a country where we have the highest technology in Ghana and the world?”

In the 2020 presidential race, Ayari ran for office.

Effective as of Tuesday August 15,2023, a new law enacted in Ghana imposed a 10% tax on winnings from lotteries and betting.

According to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), this withholding tax will be immediately subtracted from all winnings from games, lotteries, and betting at the time of payout.

The withholding tax will not be charged in the event that a game is canceled and the player receives their initial stake back, or if the payout amount is equal to or less than the amount staked.

Lottery operators are required to upgrade their software to display the specifics of the amount staked, the wins, and the tax withheld upon pay-out in order to permit easier monitoring by the revenue authority.

Citing Ghana’s relatively low tax-to-GDP ratio within the sub-region, Edward Gyambrah, Commissioner of the GRA, stressed that this tax implementation is projected to increase domestic tax revenue mobilization.

The younger generation in Ghana, however, has criticized the new tax effort, claiming that profits from lotteries and betting frequently provide unemployed people with alternate sources of income.

Revenue officials have issued a strong warning, stating that licenses for sports betting companies, lottery operators, casinos, slot machine operators, and marketing promoters will be revoked for failure to comply with the new rules.

Source: Ghanatodayonline.com