From Asamoah Gyan’s Memoir to CEO Awards—How NLA’s Good Causes Fund for the Needy Was Blown on Elites

What was meant to serve the poor, orphans, and destitute in Ghana became a cash pool for the privileged and powerful. Documents from the National Lottery Authority’s (NLA) Good Causes Foundation reveal that millions of cedis were funneled into elite awards, political projects, and celebrity ventures, leaving the vulnerable behind.

Among the beneficiaries was former Black Stars captain Asamoah Gyan, whose memoir project received GHC50,000—despite the footballer being one of Ghana’s wealthiest athletes. The Ghana CEO Awards pocketed a staggering GHC350,000, while the Africa Prosperity Network Awards, linked to Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, received GHC250,000.

Other beneficiaries included Glitz Africa’s Women of the Year event (GHC80,000), the Chief of Staff’s Office (GHC350,000 for Independence Day fanfare), and MPs from both political divides, who collectively took more than GHC1 million for pet causes. Even glossy magazines and state institutions queued up for slices of the fund.

Meanwhile, psychiatric hospitals remain underfunded, orphanages depend on charity, and destitute children—whom the law specifically earmarked the fund for—were sidelined.

Former NLA boss Samuel Awuku, now MP for Akuapem North, defended the expenditures, insisting they were in line with the foundation’s broader “social obligations.” But critics argue the disbursements reflect a gross abuse of the Good Causes Fund, which Act 722 mandates to provide care and protection for the vulnerable.

The revelations raise troubling questions: was the NLA’s Good Causes Foundation truly for the needy—or simply another cash cow for Ghana’s elite?

source: thefourthestategh.com