Matiang’i deports 17 foreigners involved in gambling in Kenya

Image result for foreigners deported airportInterior Cabinet Secretary Dr Fred Matiang’i  has headed to his word when he ordered the immediate deportation of all foreigners engaging in the gambling business without the required permits.

In the latest development, the government has deported 17 foreigners, including Chinese, Turkish and Spanish nationals, for allegedly engaging in illegal gambling businesses in Kenya.

Dr. Matiang’i, spoke during a Betting Control and Licensing stakeholders meeting at the Kenya School of Government, where he also directed Immigration Principal Secretary Gordon Kihalangwa to review the working permit of all foreigners who applied to do business in the country.Image result for Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr Fred Matiang’i

“Anyone who applied for a different permit and ended in gambling business should be deported. I am ready to sign their deportation papers today. We have to clean up the sector,” said Matiang’i.
According to Matiang’i, the annual turnover in the gambling industry soared from Sh2 billion to over Sh200 billion in the last five years.

The government said that more than 500,000 Kenyans mostly youths had been blacklisted by the credit reference bureaus (CRB) for failure to repay loans borrowed for gambling.

“Most of our youths are in gambling but they are jobless hence they have to borrow money to gamble,” Matiang’i said.Image result for gambling in kenya
A recent survey by Transunion Credit Reference Bureau (CRB) found that 316,455 people in a group of 600,000 cases had been negatively listed for outstanding balances of less than Sh100 associated with mobile money.

“Uncontrolled gambling has reorganized the financial lives of poor Kenyans in very drastic ways. This money is directly pocketed by firms owned by non-Kenyans.”Image result for Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr Fred Matiang’i

“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,” he said.
Matiang’i decried the betting craze in the country especially among youth asking, “What are we teaching our children?”
According to him, 76 per cent of young people are involved in one form of betting or the other.

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