Director-General of the National Lottery Authority (NLA) Kofi Osei Ameyaw has set up a three-member committee to probe allegations of nonpayment of big wins across the country.

According to the Director-General, the mandate of the committee is to verify, validate and authenticate” documents of persons in the category of big wins.

Workers of NLA earlier on Monday, March 1, 2021, withdrew their services to protest what they say is the continuous nationwide attack on them due to the failure of the Authority’s management to pay lottery winners.

They said the Authority had failed to pay winning draws from as far back as April 2020 resulting in attacks on the lives of the staff of the authority in places like Tamale in the Northern Region.

The situation forced the National Labour Commission (NLC) to summon the NLA staff union and Director General of the Authority, Kofi Osei Ameyaw, to find a resolution to the concerns by the aggrieved staff.

At the hearing, the Director-General explained to the NLC that “ in this day and age where cyber-crime has become a big issue, big wins are thoroughly investigated, verified and validated before payments of the said wins.”

He further stated that if the document is cleared and validated by the committee, the winning shall be paid within fourteen days”.

The NLC upon hearing the two sides described the protest by the staff as wrongful and unfair, and thus directed them to resume work immediately.

“The NLC declares today’s action of workers as wrongful and unfair and orders the workers to call off the suspension of withdrawal of services and resume work immediately,” the release signed by the NLC’s Executive Secretary, Ofosu Asamoah ordered.

The committee is a composition of two senior staff at the DG’s office and a representative from the aggrieved workers.