{"id":113279,"date":"2019-08-27T12:03:49","date_gmt":"2019-08-27T19:03:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=113279"},"modified":"2019-08-27T13:37:00","modified_gmt":"2019-08-27T20:37:00","slug":"kenyan-president-kenyatta-to-lawmakers-pass-law-to-ban-gambling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kenyan-president-kenyatta-to-lawmakers-pass-law-to-ban-gambling\/","title":{"rendered":"Kenyan President Kenyatta Sends Message to Lawmakers: Change Constitution to Ban Gambling"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has called for a complete ban on gambling in the country, the third- largest sports betting market in Africa.<\/p>\n

\"Kenyatta\"
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta is no fan of the nation\u2019s betting operators, and has a simple solution to their efforts to sue the government over the recent de facto industry shutdown. (Image: Dai Kurokawa\/EPA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Speaking in Nairobi, Kenyatta urged lawmakers to pass a law to prohibit gambling.<\/p>\n

“We have this thing called gambling and it’s so bad,\u201d he said. \u201cI, alone, can’t end it.\u201d<\/p>\n

His words come two months after Kenya\u2019s Betting Control and Licensing Board (KBCLB) effectively dismantled<\/a> the country\u2019s betting industry after the government accused its leading operators of paying too little tax, an allegation disputed by the industry.<\/p>\n

\n

On July 10, the regulator ordered telecommunications companies to freeze the mobile shortcodes and paybill numbers that Kenyans use to fund their accounts and withdraw winnings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The order impacted at least 27 betting companies and gave up to 12 million customers some 48 hours to remove their cash from their accounts or face losing it.<\/p>\n

Operators Sue Government<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Kenya\u2019s two biggest operators, SportPesa and Betin, have sued the government, claiming the move is illegal. SportPesa says it has a High Court order that permits it to continue operations, and is asking the courts to demand the government switch the paycodes back on and compensate it for loss of revenues.<\/p>\n

Kenyatta\u2019s solution to the pending lawsuits is clear.<\/p>\n

\u201cGo change the constitution,\u201d he told lawmakers.<\/p>\n

So long as they are operating within Kenya, and are guided by the laws of the land, they should give Caesar what belongs to Caesar,” said Kenyatta. “[Lawmakers] should help me do it.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Rise of Kenya Betting<\/h2>\n

Increased access to pay-as-you-go mobile phones in many African countries over the past few years has driven the adoption of e-wallets where the population is often largely unbanked.<\/p>\n

This has facilitated a betting boom in countries like Kenya and Nigeria, where aggressive marketing by operators has sparked concerns about the exploitation of the poor.<\/p>\n

Tax Dispute<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The KBCLB has said that a tax rate of 20 percent must be levied on both a player\u2019s original stake and the payout, while operators say the rules only demand a tax on the payout.<\/p>\n

SportPesa has accused authorities of adopting a \u201cdeliberate politicization of tax figures, supporting the Kenyan government\u2019s own political agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n

The regulator claims it is owed $586.4 million in unpaid taxes, a debt which must be paid, Kenyatta warned this week.<\/p>\n

In mid-July, the Interior Ministry ordered the deportation<\/a> of 17 foreign directors of betting companies. While the department did not name names, a source told Kenya\u2019s Daily Nation <\/em>newspaper that Bulgarian, Italian, Russian, and Polish nationals were among those expelled from the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has called for a complete ban on gambling in the country, the third- largest sports betting market in Africa. Speaking in Nairobi, Kenyatta urged lawmakers to pass a law to prohibit gambling. “We have this thing called gambling and it’s so bad,\u201d he said. \u201cI, alone, can’t end it.\u201d His words […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":113285,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[61,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nKenyan President Kenyatta to Lawmakers: Pass Law to Ban Gambling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta has asked lawmakers in the country to change the constitution to ban gambling in face of legal challenges.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kenyan President Kenyatta to Lawmakers: Pass Law to Ban Gambling\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta has asked lawmakers in the country to change the constitution to ban gambling in face of legal challenges.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kenyan-president-kenyatta-to-lawmakers-pass-law-to-ban-gambling\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-08-27T19:03:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-08-27T20:37:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/kenyatta.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1152\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kenyan-president-kenyatta-to-lawmakers-pass-law-to-ban-gambling\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kenyan-president-kenyatta-to-lawmakers-pass-law-to-ban-gambling\/\",\"name\":\"Kenyan President Kenyatta to Lawmakers: Pass Law to Ban Gambling\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kenyan-president-kenyatta-to-lawmakers-pass-law-to-ban-gambling\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kenyan-president-kenyatta-to-lawmakers-pass-law-to-ban-gambling\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/kenyatta.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-08-27T19:03:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-08-27T20:37:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta has asked lawmakers in the country to change the constitution to ban gambling in face of legal challenges.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kenyan-president-kenyatta-to-lawmakers-pass-law-to-ban-gambling\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kenyan-president-kenyatta-to-lawmakers-pass-law-to-ban-gambling\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kenyan-president-kenyatta-to-lawmakers-pass-law-to-ban-gambling\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/kenyatta.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/kenyatta.jpg\",\"width\":2048,\"height\":1152,\"caption\":\"Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta is no fan of the nation\u2019s betting industry operators and has a simple solution to its efforts to sue the government over the recent de facto industry shutdown. 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