The chief executive officer of the National Lottery Authority (NLA), Sammi Awuku, has been adjudged the second-best-performing public sector CEO for the year 2022.
He emerged runner-up in the maiden edition of a new awards scheme run by Adom FM’s morning show Dwaso Nsem.
Awuku competed with nine other chief executives for the Best CEO title in the awards scheme, which was settled through a poll conducted by producers of the show.
Contenders
The administrator of the District Assemblies Common Fund, Irene Naa Torshie Addo, was adjudged the best-performing public sector chief executive officer for 2022 and Nana Akomea (Intercity STC Coaches Ltd) took the third spot.
The other contenders were Bernard Okoe-Boye of the National Health Insurance Authority, Ben K D Asante (Ghana Gas), Joseph Boahen Aidoo (Ghana Cocoa Board), Delese Mimi Darko (Food and Drugs Authority), Patrick Kuma-Aboagye (Ghana Health Service), Nana Ato Arthur (Local Government Service) and Professor Ahmed Nuhu Zakariah (National Ambulance Service).
The nominations were announced by the producers of the political and current affairs show on Thursday 29 December 2022. The ten chief executives were shortlisted from among 19 others following a poll conducted through listeners’ phone calls on Dwaso Nsem.
The final winners were decided in an online poll conducted on Adomonline as well as Adom FM’s Facebook and Twitter pages.
Profile
Awuku, who is greatly admired for his commitment to the NPP faithful, is a product of St Augustine’s College in Cape Coast. He is highly regarded for his work to strengthen democratic governance and promote youth empowerment, as well as his public sector management and institutional governance skills.
He holds a Master’s degree in international relations from the Freie Universität Berlin in Germany, a certificate in public leadership from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in the United States and a diploma of higher education in law from the University of London.
He also holds a postgraduate certificate in public administration from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, a postgraduate certificate in advertising, marketing and public relations from the Ghana Institute of Journalism and a BA in political science and psychology from the University of Ghana, Legon.
Until recently, he was the director of strategy and innovation at April-June Co Ltd in Accra and a director of the Brain Hill International School. He has also served as a board member of Accra City Hotel from 2017 to date.
Youth icon
Awuku was elected three times to serve as the vice-chairman of the International Young Democrat Union (IYDU), an international association of the youth wings of centre-right parties across the world.
He is also a proud alumnus of the American Council of Young Political Leaders (ACYPL), a global platform for identifying and nurturing talent among future leaders.
In 2014 he was named one of the top 50 rising African stars by the Paris-based Africa Report magazine. And in August 2017 he was declared “Continental Youth Icon” by the All-Africa Students Union (AASU) in recognition of his long-standing work towards youth development on the African continent.
Apart from this, he has volunteered his services and provided strategic guidance at various points to assist the development of civil society platforms which aim to consolidate democracy and advocate public sector reform in Ghana.
National Lottery Authority
The NLA, where Awuku serves, is a public service institution providing a corporate platform that encourages creativity, innovation and best management practice.
The Authority was first established as the Department of National Lotteries in 1958, with a mandate to organise prize raffles for the public. In 1960 the Lotto and Betting Act (Act 94) was passed into law to launch a lottery in Ghana with the aim of raising revenue to support national development.
Over the past 50 years, the NLA has evolved into an autonomous public service institution with a legal monopoly over the organisation of lotteries in Ghana. It is one of the single most important contributors to government revenue and accessible avenues to employment.
In 2006 the passage of the National Lotto Act (Act 722) gave birth to the National Lottery Authority.
Overall winner
Irene Naa Torshie Addo, the overall winner of the Best CEO poll, is a lawyer by profession.
Born on 30 September 1970, she read law at the University of Ghana, Legon and was called to the Ghana Bar in 1996.
In 1999, she completed a Master’s degree (LLM) in law and development at the University of Warwick in the UK.
Irene Naa Torshie Addo began her legal practice at the prestigious Ghanaian law firm Akufo Addo Prempeh and Co in 1996 and has been a partner at Zoe Akyea and Co since February 2006.
She was appointed Ghana’s deputy ambassador to the United States of America in September 2006 and was elected the MP for Tema West in December 2008, winning re-election in December 2012.
She served as the first deputy Minority whip in the Parliament of Ghana between 2009 and 2017.
Addo’s legal expertise is in real estate, trade and investment law and human rights. Her passion is the protection of vulnerable women and children across the world, and especially in Ghana, a cause for which she has been an ardent advocate.
Among various other appointments, she has served as a member of the Committee on Gender and Children. She is also a member and speaker for international groups such as FIDA and ZONTA, and is the vice-president of the Ghana Chapter of the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank and IMF.