Matiang’i: Foreigners investing in betting to go back home

The fight against the contagious and exponentially increasing betting practice in Kenya has heated up as Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i now wants all foreigners who have invested in the practice deported back to their homes.

The CS has earlier shown distaste for the practice, spearheading the burn of hundreds of gambling machines last year.

Investors in the trade were left counting losses as machines were either confiscated or burnt in the crackdown under Matiangi’s directive.

The CS saw the destruction of gambling machines seized from entertainment joints across all the 14 sub-counties in Nairobi.

He warned Government officers involved in illegal gambling to stop or face arrest.

“All those who are involved, be it a chief or an assistant chief, should be fired, arrested and charged,” said Dr Matiang’i.

He also sent a stern warning to foreigners involved in illegal betting that they would be arrested, charged and deported.A move he has clearly enacted in his current directive to deport such foreigners.

“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,” said Matiang’i at a later date while enacting tax rules for betting firms.

The rules, published Tuesday by the Interior Ministry and Betting Licensing and Control Board, have also banned outdoor advertising of gambling, advertising of gambling on all social media platforms and advertising of gambling activities on television and radio between 6am and 10pm.

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