Youth should practice responsible betting

Unbelievable, but true. SportPesa's Sh220 million jackpot was won by one Samuel Abisai over the weekend after predicting 17 entries correctly. Sports betting in Kenya is big business that, although vilified to some extent, has benefited quite a number even as it drives the lesser disciplined gamblers into penury.

And perhaps it was this that saw MP Jakoyo Midiwo introduce a motion in Parliament to try and regulate it. Government, on the other hand, has indicated it would tax gambling activities at 50 per cent.

Sport betting company SportPesa has been sponsoring a number of football teams locally, and by extension, creating jobs and other opportunities for youngsters. No one disputes that SportPesa has been creating millionaires out of the lowest in society unlike Government, which makes the rich even richer.

The Sh220 million jackpot winner, Samuel Abisai, was not picked from a posh estate in the city, but from a sink estate off Thika Road. The limousines that went to pick him no doubt had to bypass burst sewage lines and mud from heavy rains that pounded the city over the weekend. That is the story of betting in Kenya.

Rather than try to kill the goose that lays the golden egg, both Government and society should devise methods of encouraging responsible betting. This is an activity of the willing who go into it knowing the possible outcomes. The few cases where a few have committed suicide after losing should not be the reason for throttling betting.