The Nairobi City County Betting, Lotteries and Gaming (Amendment) Bill has been approved at first reading by Kenya’s County Assembly. The bill will allow local gambling operators to locate casinos in five-star hotels only. Their operating hours will be limited to the hours of between 8 pm and 6 am every day.
The bill comes to amend the very recently passed Kenyan Gaming Act.
Other new provisions proposed:
- Gambling advertisements may not be broadcast before 10 pm and 5 am – considered ‘watershed hours’. Currently, bettors can place bets at any time of the day.
- Billboards and other physical ads relating to gambling will be banned altogether.
- All operators will be required to accept cashless payments from half a year after the bill becomes law.
- Anyone found breaking the law will be subject to possible 4-year jail term and a $90,000 fine.
- The bill will also target mobile bettors since gaming operators will be required to turn off their apps after hours.
The idea behind restricting play in five-star casinos only is to limit youth participation in gambling activities.
According to recent surveys, Kenya is the country where there is the biggest audience of young gamblers in the entire sub-Saharan region of Africa, even more than South Africa.
Only the Tourism Regulatory Authority is allowed to issue five-star rating, while City Hall issues operation licenses to businesses which comply with regulations.