Following the controversy surrounding the introduction of the government’s 10% betting tax, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Youth Authority (NYA), Pius Enam Hadzide has jumped to the defense of the government.

Pius Enam Hadzide says his outfit is very pleased with the initiative since it will discourage the youth from gambling.

The former deputy minister for information who was speaking on Accra-based Citi TV explained that the 10% tax on bet and lottery winnings introduced by the Akufo-Addo-led government will help to deal with the canker of gambling which is gradually going out of hand among the youth.

The tax. he says, is necessary to deter the youth from gambling because it was dangerous for any country to have its youth fixated on gambling.

He said, “we have been concerned about the increasing incidences of gambling that is affecting even the education of children. Our assessment is that when you go to many of these betting sites, you see young people in uniforms betting. We have developed the culture that the Ghanaian is known as one who is hardworking, one who is committed to decent work and honest work. Those are our values. This idea of young people attempting to get rich quick is a dangerous path to chart for any country in the long term.”

He continued that “so we have always advocated that the government should take steps to discourage gambling. We were looking at both legislative and physical measures, such as tax measures, to discourage and disincentivize people from indulging in excessive betting, especially now that our own research has indicated that the vast majority of the youth in our country are drifting into that area. In our view, it is a ticking time bomb.”

“So we applaud the government because we have brought up this matter before past and present officers of state, and we are excited that the government is finally listening to us and implementing measures to disincentivize gambling,” he added.