Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1626185,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1626185/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 157,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
    "speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Sen. Olekina needs to spend time with these young people to understand what I am telling you. Those sites are not hosted or designed here in Kenya. Therefore, you cannot determine for them what information they require from the people that are placing bets on those sites. They make payment using cards, Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards and sometimes on mobile money. Therefore, it is not possible to do what Sen. Olekina is proposing. I know for a fact that these online platforms are taking away most of the gaming revenue from this country. That is another discussion we need to have all together. In the administration of the gambling space, Kenya and Tanzania took two different paths. Kenya decided to treat it as a social ill that needs to be regulated and, therefore, they imposed a sin tax on it in the form of an excise duty. That means that every time you place a bet, there is tax deductible; just trying to dissuade people from participating in it. That is what has led to a lot of traffic going offline, away from the regulated betting spaces in Kenya. Tanzania, on the other hand, chose to be facilitative and treated it like just any other social ill. They said something must kill a man. For you, it is gambling; for another person, it is drinking. They say they treat all of them equally. As we speak today, the level of business that operated in Kenya has gone down, while in that country, it has increased. I do not think that Kenya made the wrong decision. I believe years down the line, Tanzania will regret that decision. On that one, I agree that as a country, we must find ways of inhibiting the gambling habits of the people. I was just bringing to the attention of the House the evolving space within which this industry operates. That as we try to tax them here, to dissuade them from participating in these games, they have actually taken off and they are now online. As we speak today, we must find ways of regulating this sector. Other countries have tried to ensure that there is benefit. Any challenges that occur from subsequent months and years of betting to a particular individual are sorted by the betting house. Before Sen. Olekina rose to inform me, I was giving the example of a piece of legislation that was shared to me by one of the interns at the UK embassy about a year or two ago by the time we were beginning this debate. They say that they have actually forced all gambling entities, so long as you provide gambling activities in the country, be it online or in the form of a casino, to keep a record of the customers and they share, and they are able to follow the trend. If they find that you are getting to levels close to addiction and you are becoming dependent on it while it is just supposed to be a sport, they call you and offer counselling services to you, mandatory by law. That is the kind of work that we need to demand from the firms that operate gambling activities in this country. They must look after their customers. If they notice that one is addicted, they provide support services to you as a customer. That needs to be provided by this Authority. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}