He said the companies only get funds by what they raise and have to pay taxes and fulfill their cooperate social responsibilities. He said the absence of a vibrant regulatory board in the country for lottery companies is a huge challenge and the Sierra Leone Lottery Act overlaps compared to Commonwealth and other countries.

The director said: “We want to compete but it should be on a platform of transparency that will help the institution grow. The current increase in the dollar as against the leones is a serious problem. We want to increase ticket prices from Le500 to Le1,000 but this he will not be possible due to lack of  standard regulations in line with international best practice.”

He said if government can support the company, it will be able to be at the top of the competition, whilst asking the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee to help state lottery company to have a regulatory body.

He furthered that Sierra Leone State Lottery Company has transformed from 50 years manual to automation, and have increased the company’s products from three to seven.

The company he said has also increased its draws to over 72 draws per day and has got installed a state of the art machine.

Mr. Kamara said the company has cut down on its expenses in terms of financial activities, upgraded salaries and conditions of services for staff to international level.

He said they have made great transformations internally and that they only have to work on addressing their external problems.

On their part, Members of Parliament (MPs) observed that state lottery should not be afraid of competing with other companies. They said the country’s owned companies need to compete with the private sector, whilst further encouraging the private sector to be helpful to the country’s economy.

They called on the company to work with the ministry of trade and industry and the Law Officers Department to champion the draft of a regulatory bill and submit it to Cabinet.