OVERVIEW OF THE REGULATION OF GAMBLING IN GHANA
OVERVIEW OF THE REGULATION OF GAMBLING IN GHANA
ADDRESS & PROTOCOL MR. CHAIRMAN, THE MINISTER OF INTERIOR, GAMING COMMISSIONER OF GHANA, GAMING COMMISSIONERS FROM AFRICA AND BEYOND, OPERATORS, INVITED GUEST, PATRONS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. Introduction I wish to express my greatest appreciation to the Gaming Commissioner of Ghana for this opportunity given me to speak on the topic: overview of the Regulation of Gambling in Ghana. The gambling industry has expanded across Ghana over the past few years as a result of Government policy to attract gaming tourists and increase tax earnings. This policy is indeed in the right direction since the gambling industry brings with it economic benefits to its investors, operators, patrons, employees, vendors and the country. This presentation will attempt to explain what gambling is about from my perspective, highlight the regulatory environment and make some suggestions.
Industry definition In general terms Gambling is the betting of money or something of value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary aim of winning additional money or something of value. The outcome of that event may be immediate as in a single roll of dice or longer time as in sports contest or even entire sports season. What is interesting is that this process call gambling can be identified in almost all the activities a human being undertakes. That is to say expectation makes every individual takes action and the result of the action may or may not match that expectation. The action to be taken to achieving the expectation requires commitment of resources be it time,
money, energy or what have you. When the result matches the expectation there is an excitement, otherwise unhappiness. Gambling is therefore an aspect of human behavior that has been translated into a distinct, unique and regulated action called game of chance. A Game of chance is a package that offers consideration (bets), chance (win or loss) and reward (excitement) and requires minimum skills to participate. Game of chance is distinct and unique in that the performer, the financer, the winner or the looser is the same person. The game has no spectators to whom the performer entertains for a fee.
Because it is derived from a human behavior, it can negatively affect an individual who participates and is unable to control his/her level of participation. Hence, stakeholders of the industry have responsibility in dealing with such effects through proper regulations. Games of Chance generally can be defined to include lotteries, casinos, electronic gaming and slots machines, sports betting, bingo and others. Having attempted the definition of gambling, let us now look at how it has been regulated in Ghana.
Regulatory environment Ghana has over the years known and developed gambling in two (2) main categories: lottery as one branch and all other games of chance as another branch. Lottery regulation In 1960, the Lotto and Betting Act 94 was passed into law to start lottery in Ghana with the aim of raising revenue to support the development of the country. Over fifty years or so lotto was operated and managed by Department of National Lotteries with the legal monopoly in the organization of lotteries in Ghana. In 2006, National Lotto Act 722 was passed to establish National Lotto Authority to take over from a public service institution into a body that regulates, supervises, conducts and manages National Lotto.
It is worth mentioning that in between time private lotto operators came into being but following the passage of National Lotto Act 722, the National Lotto Authority in 2007 took over the machines and equipment used by private lotto operators in conducting lottery business since the law made their activity illegal. The law has maintained the legal monopoly in the organization of lotteries in Ghana and introduced private participation by licensed Lotto Marketing companies to basically buy and sell lotto coupons for commission. The regulation of this branch of gambling is being conducted and regulated by the same body. There is no history or record to suggest that the arrangement has been harmful to the gambling industry but we can all agree that competition serves the society better.
Other Games of Chance regulations The other games of chance, on the other hand, had been regulated under Lotteries and Betting Act 1960 (Act 31); The Football Pools Authority Act 1961 (Act 78); The Gambling Machines Decree, 1973 (NRCD 174; and Casino Licensing Decree, 1975 (NRCD 320) with an oversight responsibility from the Ministry of Interior. Gaming Act, 2006, ACT 721 was passed and gazette in December, 2006 and brought various laws into one to strengthen the manner in which these games are regulated. Following the passage of The Gaming Act, 2006 a Gaming Commission under the Ministry of Interior was established to regulate, control, monitor and supervise the operations of games of chance in the country and more importantly serve as an advisory body to Government and the public on matters pertaining to games of chance. It is important to note that the law explicitly excluded lottery in its definition of games of chance. This is believed to be a matter following tradition and give the needed attention to the other games of chance if the entire gambling industry were to be developed to achieve its full potentials, in terms of gaming tourist attraction, tax revenues, return on investment and employments.
Preceding the Gaming Act, 2006, operators and patrons were more or less self regulated. The Gaming Act has brought a sense of relief to the industry players because being regulated properly is to accomplish the public policy objective of preventing money laundering, cheating, embezzlement and other unsavory activities that may hamper the growth of the industry. However, the Gaming Act, 2006 has not been backed by a Legislative Instrument (LI) after almost 10 years of becoming a legal document. It is the law needed to give flesh to the Gaming Act, 2006, Act 721, otherwise this aspect of gambling will continue to be regulated on discretionary basis which is obviously not good for this noble industry. .
Its importance need not to be over emphasized at this forum since we all know the extent it will help both the operators and the regulator in playing their respective roles in the gambling industry. It will give the specific do and don’ts and in the event of violation the enforcement process and the applicable sanctions. It will also help to avoid the ambiguities sometimes encountered by the regulator in resolving matters between operators and patrons It is very refreshing to indicate that in a recent past Stakeholders have had the opportunity to make contribution to the content of a draft and anticipate that it will be fined toned and come into effect in the nearest future.
Observations and comments Lapse - The Gaming Act, 2006 did not capture some aspects of the gambling industry besides lottery which stands on its own. For example there is no direct provision on sports betting. It may be said that it was not anticipated at the time the law was made. In the current era of technological advancement, the gambling industry has become very dynamic. It is therefore paramount to have a legal frame work that could be amended in due course as and when new trends emerge. Sports betting, like any other game of chance needs to be regulated properly if we want to avoid the possible negative effect it can have especially on the youth. They are in their formative period and can easily get addicted.
To a very large extent, no under 18 year old in Ghana can have the courage to enter a casino mainly because of the way it is regulated. Similar regulations are needed for sports betting if the youth are to be protected until they are of age to generate their own money to participate. Many youth see it as money making venture and not as entertainment and therefore are ready to risk even their school fees besides spending much of their time from one betting facility to another for better rewards. Licensing Model – The Gaming Act, 2006 provides wide open licensing model whereby there is no limit as to the number of operators. The ultimate objective of any regulatory system is to ensure compliance. Even though the gambling industry has been
with us for a long time we can still say that it is very young in terms of growth and development. Competition is health in any industry but we can all agree that too many competitors who are not properly regulated can be distractive to their own industry. Until the regulatory system becomes strong enough to contain unlimited number of operators, a strong consideration should be given to capping the number of licenses. So far we can count 20 casinos, 10 route operators and 15 sports betting companies and still counting. Mapping could also help in locating gambling facilities to promote health competition and ensure the survival of all operators. It should be recognized that gambling is not an essential commodity and so when the economic environment and the growth is not as expected it becomes very challenging.
The challenges have direct negative impact on the operator’s revenues, cost and employment as we are all currently experiencing. The industry must learn from this experience and should become proactive to avoid possible collapse whenever there is an economic turn down. Surveillance System - The Gaming Act, 2006 in its present form and framework does not include some set of minimal requirement for surveillance systems in a gaming facility. An internal monitoring system backed by surveillance equipment is definitely a plus for the supervision of the operations in the gambling industry. A mandatory requirement in this regard will bring the operations to high standards and compliance.
Employee License- The Gaming Act, 2006 is silent on employee license. It could have been required that a person who wants to work in a gambling house have to obtain a license from the regulator. The regulator then gets the opportunity to investigate an applicant and to issue a license as a proof of good character, honesty and integrity. This could help to keep the gambling industry from organized crime. It will also aid the regulator and the operators to ensure that those who misconduct themselves and lose their licenses may not find themselves with another unsuspecting operator. In a more practical way the operators can be empowered to the background checks on staff because of the length of time it would take the regulators to do this, while regulator should be doing due diligence on all operators who wish to open gaming facilities in Ghana.
Responsible Gaming – As indicated earlier in this presentation, gambling is human related behavior. It is therefore important that a system of support is established through the regulator in collaboration with operators and other relevant institutions to counsel and facilitate individuals who might be affected negatively by gambling. As it stands now the law is also silent and no known procedures are in place for taking care of such situation if it does arise. To enhance the industry there is the need to ensure that operators have effective system for in-house training for their staff to meet professional standards since there are no specific instructions that train persons for the industry.
Internet gaming and mobile gaming products have already found themselves in the gaming market. It is therefore important that some attention goes to this emerging angle on the industry
Conclusion The gambling industry looks promising and can develop its full potentials if the regulatory frame work improves to support the industry players. The gambling industry is a branch of the tourism and entertainment and therefore policy makers should be guided in that direction. The gambling industry in Ghana is fully financed by the private sector and should be supported with friendly taxation policies and possibly tourism development fund. It should be supported with affordable and reasonable tax system by way of licenses and registration fees, gaming tax and corporate tax as against Value Added Tax (VAT) which is almost an impossible tax in many games of chance.
I wish you well in all your deliberations. Long live the gambling industry, long live Ghana, Long live Africa and May God bless us all. Thank you.
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