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{
    "id": 724241,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/724241/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 438,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Ichung’wah",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1835,
        "legal_name": "Anthony Kimani Ichung'Wah",
        "slug": "anthony-kimani-ichungwah"
    },
    "content": "This Bill is not criminalising gambling or betting, but simply asking that we regulate that industry. The slot machines that we are talking about are in corners of kiosks, bars and hotels. There is no regulation or any revenue collection authority in this country which knows how much money gets into those machines, who owns them and whether or not they are paying taxes. This Bill also goes on to regulate an industry which originally, since we were small children, seemed to be regulated. But the laws which were there are not adequate to regulate gambling in casinos. In the past three weeks, the national debate has been on the fight against drugs and drug trafficking. If we are to win the war against drug trafficking and rein in the drug barons, we cannot do that without looking at the casino businesses in this country. This Bill seeks not to just regulate the casino businesses, but also limit their number in an area or county. A case in point is the number of casinos in Nairobi. In Westlands alone, if you happen to go to those casinos during the day and see the kind of people who are gambling there and the kind of money that is moving, you will know why that business thrives in certain areas where peddling of drugs is very rampant like Westlands. The same is the case with Malindi. The casino gambling business to a large extent has been used as a money laundering conduit of drug money in this country. We must address some of those concerns as a House. That is why I am asking Members that, as they oppose, it should not be for the sake of it. It should not just be because they have friends in the business, like Hon. Gikaria said. His teams are being supported by those companies. I want to ask: Even if those people are supporting some of our football teams, Hull City is not a Kenyan team and hundreds of millions are going there. How much is going to our own teams? The deaths and ruining of families is real and we cannot hide behind our friends who are in this business and our family members who are gambling. I have family members who have been gambling at the Ngong Racecourse, but I would rather they do that than what has permeated the society in this country, where even very young children are participating. I want to support the proposal in this Bill to even limit the betting age. We have no reason to allow 13 and 14-year-old girls to bet, like the case which was cited in Nakuru. For those of you who did not watch it on television, there were three young girls from a secondary school in Nakuru who were locked up in a house by a gentleman because they were afraid to go back home after betting all their school fees. Another case is that of a student at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) who bet a sum of Kshs.80,000 which was his school fees and he could not afford to go back home for more fees. That student committed suicide. Those are the ills which as a House we must guard our country against and more so, for the benefit of our youth. It is okay to bet. I want to tell you as a student of economics that any money which is generated from unproductive activities cannot benefit an economy. That is what is happening in this gambling business. People are staying home, sitting idle at shopping centres and bus parks gambling and waiting to make a kill. We cannot raise our children that way and teach our youth that there are lucky wins and one can just sit and not engage in any economic activity and expect to reap a harvest someday. As we say in Kikuyu, “ kanyakanya ”. People are being encouraged in vernacular radio stations to bet online. Many people are not engaging in productive work. No wonder you cannot find people doing casual work anywhere in this country because they are more comfortable sitting with just a phone worth Kshs.1,000 and airtime of Kshs.200 betting and expecting to make a kill. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}