Kenya introduces harsher gambling regulations

Kenya’s Betting Control and Licensing Board announced in a statement issued Thursday, new regulations to govern sports betting activities within the territory.

The board also banned outdoor advertising of gambling, advertising of gambling between 6AM and 10PM as well as celebrity endorsements of gambling activities.

“It has further been decided that any form of advertisement of gambling must be approved by the board and such an advertisement must contain a warning message about the consequences of gambling including its addictiveness and that the warning message must constitute a third of the actual advertisement and be of the same font,” the statement read.

The Kenyan government has previously warned about the negative effects of uncontrolled gambling in the country.

A report released earlier this year by Hootsuite and We Are Social showed 11 of the top 20 Google search queries made by Kenyans were directly related to betting.

In January, the government launched a crackdown on the growing number of illegal gambling establishments across the East African country.

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) further banned the importation of gaming equipment, machines, and devices used for gambling.

The new rules will bring an end to the involvement of former football stars like McDonald Mariga and Dennis Oliech in betting advertisements.

The regulations are expected to take effect in July.