This archive report was first published on 27 August 2021.
On August 27, 2021, the High Court in Nairobi declined a request by gaming and betting operators to temporarily stop the implementation of a new law that allows the county government to charge higher fees for various licences.
The new law, Nairobi City County Betting, Lotteries and Gaming Act, 2021, came into effect in May 2021, and requires public lotteries to pay up to Sh7 million, betting premises up to Sh1 million, while casinos pay up to Sh2.2 million for various licences.
The Association of Gaming Operators of Kenya argued that the new tax is bad for business amid the harsh economic downturn caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, Justice Anthony Mrima said the operators failed to lay the basis for the grant of the temporary order, and that they delayed filing the application within the three months grace period before the enactment of the law.
“Whereas petitions on infringement of Bill of Rights are not time-bound, a party, however, must account for the time between the alleged infringement or threat of infringement of the human rights and fundamental freedoms and the filing of the claim,” said the judge.
