Jacktone Lawi

GAMBLING: Betting shops and related gaming businesses in Nairobi face uncertain times ahead as Nairobi County Assembly resumes debate on the Nairobi City County Betting, Lotteries and Gaming (Amendment Bill 2021).

Set for a second hearing tomorrow, the bill seeks to make gambling a rich man’s game in Kenya, a move that will likely have a great impact on the gaming companies revenues.

The amendments in the proposal want to outlaw betting on mobile phones and betting shops and only restrict it to those who are well off in the society.

If it sails through all betting shops in the city will be closed down and gaming restricted only to five star hotels with casinos. 

“A person who intends to operate betting, lotteries or gaming premise must be domiciled within a five star hotel as rated by the Tourism Regulatory Authority,” the bill reads in part.

Deputy Majority Chief Whip who is also Nairobi South Member of County Assembly Waithera Chege, who tabled the bill, said Kenyans are spending a lot of productive time on gambling thereby reducing their productivity.

A  2017 Geopoll survey ranked Kenya as the country with the highest number of youths engaging in gambling in sub-Saharan Africa.

The report estimated that 76 per cent of Kenyans were taking part in betting, with at least 76 per cent of youths aged between 17 and 35 having engaged in at least one form of gambling.

Waithera says that among the issues the bill is seeking to address is a ban on all forms of betting advertisements in the media and change to cashless forms of betting to make it inaccessible to children.

Gaming activities

“We are putting on record all the gambling companies. We want the gambling to move from cashless to online, we want to be able to easily tell you’re over 18 years that’s when you can gamble,” he told Business Hub. The bill is also pushing the telecoms services providers to cancel all the USSD codes used by radio stations in their gaming activities. 

If successful the proposed law, will also force betting companies to shut down their betting apps during the day and open them only during the night between 8 pm and 6 am, failure to which one will face fine of up to Sh5 million and or two-year jail sentence.

The bill has rattled large betting firms with most of them opting to remain mum and avoid discussing the matter. When reached for comment on whether they gave their input on the bill during the public participation phase, Betika and GamePesa refused to comment. Mozart Bet were also not available for comment.