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{
    "id": 933166,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/933166/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 386,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Nominated, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon (Prof.) Jacqueline Oduol",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13514,
        "legal_name": "Jacquiline Adhiambo Oduol",
        "slug": "jacqueline-adhiambo-oduol"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for the opportunity to contribute to the Gaming Bill, 2019. From the outset, I am a Member of this Committee. I thank my Chair who has very ably captured the soul of the country at this particular point in time. As has also been echoed by our Vice-Chair, as a Committee, we were concerned that as much as we might not want to address the culture and practice of gaming, we needed to ensure that we responded to the cry of people of all ages but most particularly, the family. As the saying goes, whenever we look at a nation or the world and determine where it will go, we need to look at the children. It is agreed that as the children go, so goes the family, the nation and the world. Looking at the manner in which gaming and issues of gambling are currently practised, almost all Kenyans can bear witness that to date, we have a practice where one of the key inductions or introduction of our young people as they go to school is that they have to stop and look at what they were calling China. There is a culture being inculcated in our children that they do not even need to engage in serious work. They do not even see the importance of working in school. Much more worrying is that they even lose the respect and sense of restraint that they had with regards to how they spend school fees or the monies that parents sent them for different errands. As was indicated by our Chair, we were able to establish from the public participation across regions in this country - ranging from those in authority such as the CSs to those who are in touch with the public on a day-to-day basis like the regional commissioners and chiefs - that the family and in particular, the manner in which children were getting addicted or acclimatised in an industry that did not seem to have any clear regulation was the basis for this Gaming Bill. As a Committee, our greatest concern was to see that this industry is here with us. Our concern was that we need to provide a way in which the practice would protect the interests, not only of the children and the family, but even of those who would be engaging in the activity. This is because we noticed that there were those who said that this was a way for them to get employment. Our greatest concern has been to ensure that we provide an appropriate regulatory framework by repealing the Betting, Lotteries and Gaming Act Cap.131 of 1966. We do this because we are aware that after 2010, we now have a national Government and county governments in terms of administration and governance. The Act that applied in 1966 did not also recognise or take into account devolution, in addition to not having the capacity to deal with online betting which is another serious menace."
}