News
Why Staking Less Than 100Ksh Could Land You In Jail Or Cost You 5million Fine.

Parliament had last year proposed a minimum betting stake of Sh50 but the Interior Ministry successfully appealed for doubling of the minimum stake in a bid to tame ‘irresponsible betting’. The National Assembly’s Sports, Culture and Tourism committee agreed to the submission which if approved by lawmakers will make it expensive to bet.
Gamblers who bet using less than Sh100 risk a Sh5 million fine if Parliament enacts into law recommendations aimed at cutting betting among the youth.
Currently, gamblers stake as low as Sh5 on sites like BetPawa, Betika, Elite Bet, BetYetu fuelling the rapid growth of online gambling among the young and vulnerable seeking millions in prize money.
Gamblers will also risk a jail term of up to six years if they bet with a stake of less than Sh100 under the recommendations that seek to keep gaming out of the reach of the youth and the un-employed.
“Amend by deleting the word ‘fifty’ and substitute thereof with the words ‘one hundred’ to promote responsible gaming and to prevent addictive gamin,” the committee says in its report of the Gaming Bill, 2019.
The committee’s recommendations are contained in the report that is before Parliament for debate and adoption.
The proposal to increase the minimum betting stake approved by Parliament will be a boost to telcos like Safaricom who will enjoy increased transfer fees for punters depositing cash into the accounts through M-Pesa.
This is the latest bid by the State to stem a betting craze with a recent survey by Geopoll shows that 76 per cent of Kenyan youth are engaged in betting — the highest in Africa.
The report shows the youths, a majority who are jobless spend an average of Sh5, 000 on betting per month.
Kenya Insights allows guest blogging, if you want to be published on Kenya’s most authoritative and accurate blog, have an expose, news TIPS, story angles, human interest stories, drop us an email on [email protected] or via Telegram
-
News4 days ago
Plane Carrying Raila Odinga Becomes World’s Most Tracked Flight as Kenya Airways Honors Him With Special Call Sign ‘RAO001’
-
News1 week ago
Former Nairobi CEC Newton Munene Found Dead as Sonko Alleges Cartel Involvement
-
News4 days ago
I Used To Sleep Hungry, But Today I Employ The Same People Who Once Laughed At My Poverty
-
Investigations4 days ago
Kwale Sugar Faces Liquidation Guillotine as Supreme Court Slams Door on Last-Ditch Rescue Bid
-
News6 days ago
Inside 17 Minutes: CCTV Footage Reveals Murdered State House Guard Was Well Known to The Killer
-
News3 days ago
Maurice Ogeta, Raila’s Bodyguard: The Shadow Who Became The Story
-
News1 week ago
Four Arrested In JKIA Cocaine Cartel Crackdown
-
News6 days ago
Court Fines Orengo’s Law Firm For Wrongful Dismissal of Lawyer