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Uganda’s National Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board (NLGRB) is working with a wide range of stakeholders and other authorities to identify compliance challenges and improve enforcement, including preventing underage and illegal gambling.
On June 17, the NLGRB held its latest compliance stakeholder engagement with gaming operators to “reaffirm and deepen” operators’ understanding of their requirements under the Lotteries and Gaming Act, according to chairman Aloysius Adyeri.
Adyeri used the opportunity to stress that “compliance is not a burden, and it is the baseline”.
He and other members of Uganda’s gambling regulator are adamant that a “credible” and “sustainable” industry requires licensees to follow the rules.
“When operators fully comply with the law, the sector benefits: Public confidence is enhanced, government revenue increases, and vulnerable populations, especially the youth, are better protected,” he said.
During the meeting, stakeholders were educated on anti-money laundering (AML) rules, licensing and operational requirements, and their integration with the National Central Electronic Monitoring System (NCEMS), all of which have been seen as integral to improving industry oversight and compliance in recent years.
The NLGRB’s senior manager of regulatory compliance, Richard Kavuma, also gave a presentation, stressing the importance of compliance with regulatory requirements to “improve the operator’s performance and keep the regulator’s whip away”.
The stakeholder engagement meeting follows the regulator’s hosting of several educational events at schools in recent weeks to warn of the dangers of gambling, as well as numerous other initiatives to help improve understanding around gambling laws and tackling illegal gambling.
On May 27, the NLGRB held a meeting with the Uganda Police Force, during which its CEO, Denis Mudene, stressed the importance of collaboration between the gambling regulator and the police to enforce gambling laws and “end underage gambling”.
“Gaming is not a money-making venture. It is a leisure activity or entertainment, and we encourage only those of legal age to participate responsibly,” he said.
The deputy regional police commander for the Rwizi Region, Bosco Bakashaba, said he will offer “total support to reduce offences and illegal operations,” adding that gambling venues that allow underage gambling will face legal consequences.
Gaming houses that “admit underage individuals or operate without licenses, especially in villages, will face legal consequences,” Bakashaba said.
Separately, another successful partnership already bearing fruit for the NLGRB is with the National Enterprise Corporation (NEC) to destroy illegal gaming machines.
On June 24, Mudene announced that 5,000 illegal gaming machines had been confiscated by the gambling regulator, with over 2,300 sent to the NEC to be destroyed.
Mundane said: “The law states that a person who operates a casino, betting, lottery, or bingo without a licence commits an offence and is liable to conviction to a fine or imprisonment.
“Anyone providing a service in the gaming industry without a license is operating illegally. As the Board, we are mandated to enforce and take action against anyone making machines and making sites without a licence.”
