Theophile Benda, a resident of Ntarabana Sector in Rulindo District, is the latest lucky winner of the ongoing Inzozi Jackpot Lotto in which he took home a whopping Rwf 500 000. The father-of-four, who does fishing for a living, was told he won the cash prize just three days after buying two tickets worth Rwf 500 each. “When I received a call from someone telling me that I won Rwf 500 000, I thought it was a scam because I couldn’t imagine winning after several trials. I trusted what the person told me and then I received a message confirming that I won. I took the cash with me today [Tuesday],” he explains. At first, Benda played but lost on different occasions and he decided to quit playing. It was only a few days ago that he resumed playing and luck came his way after he received a call from Inzozi Lotto that he won Rwf 500 000. Even then, he had chances of winning the grand prize of Rwf10 million, but he missed out just one digit from a possible win. “I have been playing similar games for years but winning was a rare trend. When I realised the Ministry of Sports is involved, I learned that Inzozi Lotto would be trustworthy and that’s why I played with them. My aim was to either win and if not, my money could also contribute to the development of sports in Rwanda,” Benda told The New Times. “I am now going to save part of the cash for school fees for one of my children, and then I will invest the rest in my daily fishing projects,” he added. Benda insists he will keep playing as he looks to win more cash in future. Inzozi Lotto, which translates to ‘Dream Lotto,’ focuses more on supporting sports development with a dream to see Rwandans getting trophies and medals in international games. Inzozi Lotto was launched in December 2021 in a partnership between Carousel Ltd, a Rwandan registered company and the Ministry of Sports. It was established in compliance with the Law no 58/2011 of 21/12/2011 in its Article 22, and falls into the goals of national lottery where, by this law, the government has the right to establish a lottery game in order to support socio-economic activities.
