Two laws related to gambling in Kenya were struck down recently by the country’s High Court. One law related to restrictions to five-star hotels with casinos and the other pertained to the 7.5% excise duty on sports betting customers.
One of the court’s justice’s, Judge Anthony Mrima, ruled that the two laws were in breach of the Constitution because the public was not allowed input before the decisions were made.
The one law, the Nairobi City County Betting, Lotteries and Gaming (Amendment) Act of 2021, limited hours of when gambling could occur at five-star hotels that had casinos. The hours were from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.
The regulation also allowed the government to dictate where casinos could be located. They mandated they could only be at five-star hotels that received that rating from the Tourism Regulatory Authority.
But Justice Mrima said the act was unconstitutional.
“As the impugned Act affected the entire public, there was a need for serious and wider public engagement,” the judge said in his ruling.
Nairobi County Government defended the law saying the regulation was in place to curb gambling, especially with the young and poor. Gambling, especially sports betting, is popular with younger people and they often get into financial difficulties and have to fund their addiction with loans from banks and digital lenders.
The second case focused on the excise duty government was levying to operators. A 7.5% tax required firms to withhold that amount due to the government passing the Finance Act of 2021.
Justice Mrima also said that Act was unconstitutional, ruling that the public was not giving the opportunity to give their opinions.
“By the respondents’ own admission, the Finance Act did not propose the introduction of any taxes on gaming and lottery, but only the Finance Act. As such, no efforts whatsoever were taken to ensure compliance with Article 47 of the Constitution and the Fair Administrative Actions Act,” Mrima said.
Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) defended the Act saying there was adequate public participation before the drafting of the Finance Act 2021. Parliament agreed, saying the public supported the Act.
