This archive report was first published on 3 July 2019.
Published on July 3, 2019, a proposal by Gatundu South Member of Parliament Moses Kuria has sparked debate on the country's betting industry.
Speaking on the AM Live show on NTV, Mr Kuria lamented the growing problem of betting in Kenya, stating that it cannot be stopped.
However, instead of advocating for a ban, he suggested making good use of the situation by setting up a pension fund for gamblers.
Mr Kuria plans to push for an amendment in parliament to redirect the 10 percent excises duty charged on all betting sites to fund a pension account for gamblers.
“By the way you cannot stop betting, since you cannot stop it make good use of it. Just last week we passed a supplementary budget which out of it six billion coming from betting is going to universal healthcare. Thirty billion this year is the budget for the sports fund,” Kuria said.
He added, “Out of it 65 percent is going to healthcare, so this year we might get around 22 billion from betting. By the way even the ten percent excise duty Rotich proposed in the budget I am going to move an amendment and instead of giving government that money to go to a blind box somewhere. Let us open a personal pension account for every betting person so that betting becomes a job and they get a pension.”
