Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has announced he wants to ban all kinds of betting in the African country, which is plagued by a “gambling craze” that particularly afflicts young men, many of whom have been left rootless and unemployed by a depressed economy.
In the Kenya Daily Nation, columnist Sylvania Ambani wrote that betting was “a simple matter” until the introduction of online betting four years ago. “This brought in a new level of gambling that has now become the bane of the society. Youths have now become professional liars just to get money from their parents to place a bet. And grown men are betting their salaries and family livelihoods on the odds being determined by a computer.”
In July, the government suspended the licenses of gaming operators that fell short of compliance requirements. The country’s Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB) postponed renewing the operational licenses of 13 casinos, six lotteries and eight sports betting firms, and declined to renew the licenses of 19 betting operators pending security vetting of their operations and ownership.
The BCLB issued a statement saying it “shall not hesitate to debar non-compliant operators in any category.” It also announced that all licensees will now face a quarterly review to confirm their compliance with Kenya’s stricter gambling rules.
Kenya’s new Gaming Bill 2019, introduced in May, includes increased regulatory fees, minimum bet limits and local ownership requirements. The government previously announced that any licensee with outstanding tax obligations would face a license suspension.
The bill also seeks to prohibit the use of mobile phones for wagering. Operators who permit mobile wagering would face fines of up to US$50,000 while individual bettors could be fined up to $2,000.
Kenya Revenue Authority Deputy Commissioner Maurice Oray has said the new policies aren’t intended to “kill” the gaming sector but “to ensure that the government gets a fair share of the revenue that’s transacted on these platforms.”
The crackdown by Uhuru seem to contradict that assertion.
