Banning celebrities from endorsing sports betting is good – Kelly Nii Lartey Mensa

Digital Marketing Strategist at GHOne TV, Kelly Nii Lartey Mensa, has put a spin on the ongoing debate on if the ban on Ghanaian celebrities from promoting alcoholic brands and sports betting should be lifted or not.

Making his opinion known via his verified Facebook page, he noted that left to him alone, celebs must not be allowed to endorse these companies.

Dr. Kelly as he’s affectionately called feels most of these sports betting companies especially use celebrities to influence the youth to make use of the gambling outfits.

And when they make money, they don’t develop Ghana in any way but rather, they expatriate the money to their countries.

Kelly wisely suggested that these sports betting companies should be tasked to set up funds for skills development in every community they operate in, instead of giving money to celebs to brainwash the youth.

In his words, he wrote:

“Gaming Commission is right! Stop ridiculing their mandate on air.

It is not wise for any Government to watch unconcerned while celebrities get paid 10k to corrode its social fibre through non reformational gambling. When these multi billion betting companies come to Ghana, they have easier routes. Just pay the celeb and all the youth of Ghana will start following your brand. They make the millions and repatriate the cash.

They don’t invest in any social value re- development projects. They don’t present the communities they corrupt with any renewable schemes for education, recreation or arts. Meanwhile, their betting shops are at every corner in every town of Ghana.

If we don’t take care, in the next 30 years, we are going to end up with gamblers generation with no skill, no talent and no future. They will pick up guns to kill and rob just to place bets.

Betting is high capital indexed for the owners and corrosive to character of users. So what are the reforms by these betting companies in the communities they have those many bet shops.

It would be wise if all the betting companies are made to set up funds for skills development in every community they operate in, instead of just giving 10k to a popular celeb to cheaply brainwash our youth without any reformational plans for them. Let your PR be based on the fact that, you engage in reformational projects instead. #DrKelly”