{"id":32710,"date":"2026-09-07T02:15:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T05:15:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/?p=32710"},"modified":"2026-09-07T06:36:30","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T09:36:30","slug":"sierra-leone-parliament-moves-to-end-accord-logistics-lottery-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/sierra-leone-parliament-moves-to-end-accord-logistics-lottery-deal","title":{"rendered":"Sierra Leone Parliament opposes renewal of Accord role at State Lottery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Parliament has frozen the joint-venture accounts, ordered a full audit and called for a fresh competitive process after finding alleged breaches in the expired agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Sierra Leone.- Sierra Leone\u2019s Parliament<\/strong> has moved to end Accord Logistics\u2019 role in the State Lottery<\/strong>, ordering the immediate freezing of joint-venture accounts, a comprehensive audit and recommending that the expired agreement not be renewed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The move followed Parliament\u2019s unanimous adoption of the Trade and Industry Committee\u2019s report on the expired Joint Venture Agreement between the Sierra Leone State Lottery Company and Accord Logistics<\/strong> during its August 4 2026 sitting, according to Awoko Newspaper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lawmakers ordered the joint-venture accounts to be blocked pending further investigation, while also backing an audit and opposing renewal of the expired agreement, according to Premier News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaker Segepoh Thomas ordered all accounts linked to the joint venture to be frozen immediately and instructed the Audit Service Sierra Leone to conduct a comprehensive audit<\/strong> and submit its findings to Parliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Accord Logistics is the private-sector partner in a joint venture with the Sierra Leone State Lottery Company and the Government of Sierra Leone, represented by the National Commission for Privatisation (NCP). Parliament ratified the agreement on February 8 2022. The partnership was intended to develop the country\u2019s gaming and betting industry<\/strong> and support the revival of the State Lottery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Trade and Industry Committee said its inquiry uncovered significant concerns over the management of state assets and execution of the contract. MP Fallah Tengbeh also said substantial funds remained outstanding to the State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Committee chairperson Veronica Kadie Sesay described Accord Logistics\u2019 conduct as a \u201cdirect affront to Parliament\u201d, saying the House had previously directed that workers be paid but that the directive had not been complied with. She called for regulatory and legal action over alleged breaches of the agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MP Bernadette Songa recommended that the expired contract<\/strong> not be renewed, with any future arrangement subject to a transparent and competitive procurement process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lottery deal under scrutiny<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The latest action follows months of parliamentary scrutiny. In July 2025, Parliament was already questioning whether the agreement had expired. In the official Hansard, Sesay called it a \u201cthorny issue\u201d, while Speaker Segepoh Solomon Thomas said: \u201cI think that Agreement should have expired by now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By February 2026, the dispute had also focused on unpaid staff<\/a>. The Parliamentary Committee on Trade and Industry ordered Accord Logistics CEO Johnny Kouza to settle outstanding salaries owed to State Lottery employees and provide details of the joint account between Accord Logistics and the lottery. The committee also raised concerns about the auditing of accounts and the use of a personal account rather than the joint account provided for under the agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those earlier concerns over salary payments and financial transparency<\/strong> date back to April. The August account freeze, audit order and recommendation against renewal now take the dispute further, shifting the focus from the lottery\u2019s immediate financial problems to the future of the joint venture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government\u2019s fiscal-risk assessment has also highlighted financial problems at the State Lottery. The Ministry of Finance said the lottery had struggled in the gaming and gambling market, with poor performance linked to mismanagement<\/strong> and administrative problems. The Accord Logistics deal was meant to revive the lottery, but the Ministry said the company has full control of its operations and finances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The immediate next step is the Audit Service investigation, which could help determine what happens to the expired agreement and the future structure of the State Lottery. <\/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> Togo lottery players face payout delays at LONATO sales points<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Parliament has frozen the joint-venture accounts, ordered a full audit and called for a fresh competitive process after finding alleged breaches in the expired agreement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2809,"featured_media":9163,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Sierra Leone's Parliament has moved to terminate the joint venture between the State Lottery Company and Accord Logistics, ordering an immediate freeze of accounts and a comprehensive audit. This action follows alleged breaches, mismanagement, and financial irregularities in the expired agreement, with lawmakers recommending non-renewal and a future competitive procurement process. The decision significantly impacts the country's gaming sector governance and the operational future of the State Lottery.","focusai_entities":"Sierra Leone State Lottery Company, Accord Logistics, Government of Sierra Leone, National Commission for Privatisation (NCP), Audit Service Sierra Leone, Ministry of Finance, Parliament, Trade and Industry Committee, Awoko Newspaper, Premier News, Segepoh Thomas, Fallah Tengbeh, Veronica Kadie Sesay, Bernadette Songa, Johnny Kouza","focusai_location":"Sierra Leone","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.95), operator_casino (0.85), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.75), journalist_researcher (0.95)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Post-JV Operational Strategy?","query":"What specific operational and financial restructuring initiatives are anticipated for the Sierra Leone State Lottery Company following the non-renewal of the Accord Logistics joint venture and the parliamentary audit findings?"},{"label":"Governance Framework Evolution?","query":"How will the alleged breaches and subsequent parliamentary actions influence the evolution of governance frameworks and regulatory oversight for state-backed gaming entities in Sierra Leone and potentially other emerging markets?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[60023,60012],"tags":[74],"class_list":["post-32710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal-news","category-west-africa","tag-lottery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32710","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\/2809"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32710"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32757,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32710\/revisions\/32757"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}