Matiang’i: Tax-evading betting firms to lose licences

Administration police officers display Chinese-made betting machines at Kisii Police Station. [Sammy Omingo/Standard]

Betting firms have until July 1 to pay all their taxes or risk having their licences cancelled.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has ordered the Betting Control and Licensing Board to oversee that betting firms are in compliance tax paying to avoid obstruction.

“To show that we are serious, all betting licenses in the country stand suspended effective July 1, 2019 unless the holders pay all their taxes,” he said.

Matiang’i decried the betting craze in the country especially among youth asking, “What are we teaching our children?”

According to him, 76 per cent of young people are involved in one form of betting or the other.

 Fifty-four per cent of people actively involved in betting are low-income earners and over 500,000 youth have been blacklisted by lending agencies.

The CS was meeting the board on Monday to review important policies in the sector.

He also asked the board to document foreigners who are found indulging in the activity.

Petition

In February this year, High Court dismissed a petition filed by betting firms seeking to stop the Government from confiscating and destroying their gambling machines.

Judge William Musyoka said the firms had failed to prove they were licensed to conduct the business as stipulated in the law.