Lawyer sues betting firm for refusing to close account

An advocate addicted to gambling has sued a betting firm for refusing to close his account, after losing thousands of shillings and almost falling into depression.

Mark Ndumia Ndung’u, in his suit at the High Court, claims he is tired of gambling and blames Shop and Deliver Ltd, which trades as ‘Betika’ for declining to close his betting account.

“Since July, I felt that I had a gambling problem as I was spending so much time betting and in the process, I was losing a lot of money which I could have used in other beneficial activities. I asked the betting firm to close my account but they declined,” said Ndung’u.

Ndung’u claims he struggles with gambling disorder due to the amount staked per bet. He says every time he loses a bet, he takes another one to cover up for his loss, which has made his betting habit toxic. Ndung’u said failure by Shop and Deliver Ltd to close his account forced him to seek court redress.

“Having the account closed was my only remedy for stopping betting as I had previously tried taking breaks on several occasions but failed,” swore Ndung’u in an affidavit.

Mr Ndung’u says he wrote to the Betting Control and Licensing Board to force the firm to close his account. In September, he received an email notifying him the account had been closed.

“This was not true since my account was still open and I could place bets. Their inaction made me lose Sh110,362 in the first week of August on gambling which would not have happened had they acted on my initial request to close the account,” swore Ndung’u. He wants compensation for the amount spent on gambling.