Parliament passes strict rules to regulate, constrict gambling

Celebrities and prominent personalities have now been barred from promoting gambling and betting in fresh new regulations introduced by government and aimed at curbing the gambling menace in the country.

A Bill passed by the National Assembly now dictates that celebrities can henceforth only do so after getting express authority from the soon to be set up Gambling Regulatory Authority of Kenya, which will replace Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB). 

The mediated version of the Gambling Control Bill, 2023, which was given the nod by MPs and now awaits Presidential assent, contains a raft of measures aimed at not only regulating the gambling industry but also constricting what the lawmakers termed a growing cancer gnawing away at society’s moral fabric.

“A person who contravenes the provisions of this section commits an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty million shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twenty years, or to both,” reads the Bill.

The new regulations have also prohibited advertising of gambling by organizing, promoting or sponsoring a sporting event, trade fairs, exhibitions, shows, cultural, artistic, recreational, educational or entertainment programmes or any other event. This is expected to deal a blow to, especially, the sporting sector which has in recent years relied heavily on funding from gambling companies.

Advertisers have also been restricted from holding themselves out by advertisement, promotion, notice or public placard with the aim of enticing members of the public to participate in gambling and displaying any written or printed placard or notice relating to any form of game of chance in any shape or form so as to be visible in a public street or place.

Further, one can not print or publish, or cause to be printed or published, any advertisement or notice without the approval of the Authority.

Additionally, the Bill dictates that a gambling advertisement shall not be featured or broadcasted on television or radio between 6am  and 10pm in the evening unless during a live sporting event, not be erected on an advertisement billboard near a learning institution and must dedicate twenty per cent of aired advertisement towards promotion of responsible gambling.

It must also indicate the addictive nature of gambling, notify players to play responsibly, prohibit children from playing and not use false, misleading or deceptive messaging likely to create an erroneous positive impression of gambling.

For the implementation of the regulations, the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Kenya will assume the new roles.

Functions of the Authority will be to develop standards and norms for betting, lotteries, casinos and other forms of gambling, regulate and control gambling activities, issue licences for gambling activities and develop policies for placing of bets for betting lotteries and gambling that include a savings component for social health insurance or social retirement benefit.

It will monitor the implementation of gambling policies at the national and county level, establish and maintain, in consultation with county governments, a register of all gambling machines and devices, and other relevant data on licensed gambling activities,  conduct security checks, vetting and due diligence in respect of gambling activities, licensees, their shareholders, directors, beneficial owners and staff, and establish an electronic central real time gambling monitoring system to monitor compliance with regulatory requirements.

The Authority will monitor the socio-economic patterns of gambling activities at the national and county level, coordinating research and surveys relating to the gambling industry and monitoring and alleviating illegal cross border gambling activities in collaboration with county governments.

During the debate of the Bill, Leader of Majority Kimani Ichung’wah termed the gambling craze in the country a threat to the youth, arguing that its unregulated nature had fueled delinquency, depression and even suicides.

He said the current measures introduced by BCLB were inadequate to deal with the problem.

“We have seen young children, college students commit suicide because of betting. They have gambled their money away, their school fees. Some gamble their subsistence allowance from their parents and from the Higher Education Loans Board and end up destitute, slip into depression and some end up committing suicide. It is these young ones that we must protect,” Ichungw’ah said.

“There is a category of people in this country who have made gambling and betting a career. Some have, so to speak, turned gambling and betting into a means of laundering illicitly acquired money. I just hope and pray that the provisions of this Bill will address this particular issue,” Funyula MP Wilberforce Oundo said. 

Seme MP James Nyikal said there was need to introduce an age limit and impose sanctions on operators who allow young people to gamble.

“We need to put an age limit on gambling in Kenya. Just the way we have done to alcohol, that 21 age limit should also apply to gambling,” added Dagoretti North MP Beatrice Elachi.

At the same time, the Gambling Controll Bill seeks to inflict penalties on offenders of the law, such as a fee not exceeding Sh10 million for anyone who acts, facilitates or carries on business contrary to the terms of a licence issued under the Act.

“For a first offence, one will be liable to a fine not exceeding Sh3 million or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to both; and for a second or subsequent offence to a fine not exceeding Sh5 million or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or to both,” adds the Bill.

To protect the children, a fine not exceeding one million shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to both, will be imposed on persons who bet with a child(ren), employ a child in a betting premises.