Nairobi Gamblers Faces with Rigorous New Laws

Nairobi City Hall has proposed a series of new legislation to control the city's gaming and betting industries.

Within the Nairobi City County Betting, Lotteries and Gaming Bill 2020, gamblers in Kenya's capital may see the implementation of a Betting Act carrying out various licensing laws and regulations.

Players will now have to deal with additional tax policies including an amusement levy, which will be levied at a rate of 20% on all poker, betting and lottery gross winnings. They will be also imposed various fines and punishments.

The Bill is now in the second reading stage for calls for a County Betting, Lotteries and Gambling Control Board to be set up, with Culture and Community Services Committee chairman Mwangi Njahia stating that it was introduced because of "the increase in the size of the county population."

The Governor will be given the authority to name a non-executive representative, accompanied by a director who will supervise slots, betting and lotteries, with the latter having the ability to "approve or reject an application for licences, issue licences, suspend or cancel the same."

Penalties and fines of up to Sh1m (US$ 9,110) will be dealt out according to the draft bill.

Public lottery license allocation would be Sh4m per draw, whereas a Sh600,000 fee would be paid for a betting location.

Casinos will be paid the donation fee of Sh100,000 and Sh10,000 as maintenance fee, as well as the annual and transition fee of Sh300,000 and Sh200,000 respectively.