Share your views on the proposed National lottery Bill, taskforce urge Kenyans

Kisii, Friday April 21, 2023

K.N.A by Misheba Alfred

The Presidential Taskforce on the Creation of a National Lottery has encouraged stakeholders and members of the public to share their views on the proposed National lottery Bill.

While addressing the press in Kisii during a public participation event, Kisii County Commissioner Tom Anjere spoke well of the taskforce saying the government has placed trust in it towards streamlining the gambling activities in the country.

“Through the Bill, a National Lottery Board will be formed to oversee the formation of policies, supervise, control and monitor the operations of the National Lottery. This will create a transparent and accountable lottery industry and therefore prevent fraud, “said the commissioner.

Mr Anjere further said that through the proposed bill, many people including government agencies will benefit from lottery kitty unlike currently where only few benefitted.

“It is anticipated that the proposed National Lottery will strengthen support for sports, culture, and the arts and increase funding supplied through the Sports Arts and Social Development Fund,” Anjere said.

The commissioner argued that he had particularly identified interest in Section 28(a) of The Gambling Control Bill,2023 draft which state: ‘A person shall not offer any gambling or betting activity under this Act unless that person is a body corporate in which a minimum of thirty percent of shares are held by the Kenyan citizens.’

 He proposed the section to instead read ‘A person shall not be licensed to offer any gambling or betting activity under this Act unless that person is a body corporate duly registered under the companies Act,2015’.

This he said would allow both local and foreign companies registered under the Companies Act, 2015 to offer gambling activities in the country nondiscriminatory.

“The bill should also be amended to enhance the principle of multi-secretarial government approach to give the National Government Administrative Officer’s (NGAO) more powers during crackdown of unlicensed gambling premises, “added Anjere.

The commissioner said that some of the gambling premises have proven to be hiding zones for criminals and therefore there is need to give security agents powers to revoke permits in case such a premise is classified as a security threat.

Anjere noted that some operators may be resistant to change making it challenging to implement responsible gambling measures.

Geoffrey Malombe, a member of the taskforce said that the bill was one of a kind in the country and will boost revenue collection from the industry as was the case in other countries such as South Africa.

The taskforce was established in February this year to develop a framework for the establishment of The National Lottery for regulation of gambling activities in the country.

Courtesy K.N.A