{"id":12827,"date":"2025-11-14T11:34:49","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T14:34:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/?p=12827"},"modified":"2026-04-19T11:50:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T14:50:07","slug":"senate-investigates-liberia-broadcasting-system-over-gambling-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/senate-investigates-liberia-broadcasting-system-over-gambling-deal","title":{"rendered":"Senate investigates Liberia Broadcasting System over gambling deal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The probe will examine the agreement’s terms, any revenue sharing and whether it aligns with LBS’s founding charter from 1962, which emphasises public interest over commercial ventures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liberia.- The Liberia Broadcasting System (LBS)<\/strong> is facing criticism for allegedly allowing a gambling operation on its premises. The issue was brought to the Liberian Senate on November 11 <\/strong>by Bomi County Senator Edwin Melvin Snowe<\/strong>, citing reports of an agreement between LBS management and Blue Star Hi-Tech Liberia Limited<\/strong> to operate a betting centre at the broadcaster’s Paynesville headquarters outside Monrovia<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Snowe described the arrangement as a potential threat to LBS’s core mission. He said: “LBS is funded by taxpayers and tasked with informing, educating and entertaining the public. It should not link itself to activities like gambling that could weaken its ethical duties.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He pointed out that the broadcaster reaches families across Liberia, including children who tune in for news and educational programmes, which makes its involvement in gambling problematic, as it blurs the line between public service and private gain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The facility in question is a draw room for the 5\/90 Ball Lotto Game,<\/strong> a national lottery product run by Blue Star. The Monrovia-based operator invested about $2.5m<\/strong> (\u20ac2.3m) in the setup, including automated ball-drawing machines and advanced surveillance systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The partnership was projected to bring in millions of dollars in government revenue each year from ticket sales, while also creating between 500 and 1,500 jobs<\/strong> in sales and operations across several counties, such as Montserrado, Margibi, Grand Bassa, Bong, Nimba and Lofa<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the Senate session, Saah Joseph<\/strong>, Montserrado County Senator, proposed that the Committee on Information, Broadcasting and Cultural Affairs<\/strong> conduct a comprehensive review of the deal, covering security and financial aspects. Senate President Pro Tempore Nyonblee Karngar-Lawrence<\/strong> approved the motion, setting a two-week deadline for the committee’s report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The probe will examine the agreement’s terms, any revenue sharing, and whether it aligns with LBS’s founding charter from 1962, which emphasises public interest over commercial ventures.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> Enugu joins states opposing Nigeria\u2019s Central Gaming Bill<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The probe will examine the agreement’s terms, any revenue sharing and whether it aligns with LBS’s founding charter from 1962, which emphasises public interest over commercial ventures. Liberia.- The Liberia Broadcasting System (LBS) is facing criticism for allegedly allowing a gambling operation on its premises. The issue was brought to the Liberian Senate on November…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2395,"featured_media":12829,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"The Liberia Broadcasting System (LBS) is under legislative scrutiny following an agreement allowing Blue Star Hi-Tech Liberia Limited to operate a 5\/90 Ball Lotto Game facility on its premises. The Liberian Senate is probing whether this commercial venture aligns with LBS's 1962 founding charter, which prioritizes public interest over private gain, despite projections of significant government revenue and job creation. The investigation will examine the agreement's terms, revenue sharing, and ethical implications.","focusai_entities":"Liberia Broadcasting System (LBS), Blue Star Hi-Tech Liberia Limited, Liberian Senate, Edwin Melvin Snowe, Saah Joseph, Nyonblee Karngar-Lawrence","focusai_location":"Liberia, Paynesville, Monrovia, Montserrado, Margibi, Grand Bassa, Bong, Nimba, Lofa","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.85), investor_analyst (0.8), supplier_vendor (0.8), journalist_researcher (0.95)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Governance Framework Review","query":"What specific governance frameworks and public-private partnership guidelines are being invoked by the Liberian Senate to assess the LBS-Blue Star agreement, and what are the potential ramifications for future state-owned enterprise commercial ventures?"},{"label":"B2B Licensing Implications","query":"Given the scrutiny of Blue Star Hi-Tech Liberia Limited's operational agreement, what are the potential implications for B2B licensing and regulatory compliance standards for other iGaming suppliers operating within Liberia's jurisdiction?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[60023,60012],"tags":[60108,60033,78],"class_list":["post-12827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal-news","category-west-africa","tag-casino","tag-regulation","tag-sports-betting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2395"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12827"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12827\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12845,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12827\/revisions\/12845"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}