Gaming board has no standards for betting machines

Legislators on the Parliament’s Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) have been shocked to learn that Uganda’s gaming and lotteries sector runs on machines operated without minimum standards which is exposing Ugandans to illicit gambling.

The displeasing revelation came to light as the committee interfaced with and grilled the National Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board (NLGRB) top officials who appeared to respond to queries raised in the Auditor General Report for Financial Year 2021/2022.

The Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NLGRB Denis Ngabirano confessed that his entity has been regulating the gaming sector for years without the requisite standards in place

In pressing questions to the NRGB top brass, the committee chairperson Joel Ssenyonyi tasked gaming regulators in Uganda to explain circumstances under which they enforce and plough sanity in a sector whose machines operate without minimum to regulate them.

A section of Members of Parliament on the committee, including the Bukoto Central’s Richard Sebamala recommended that the gambling business be put on halt until minimum standards are put in place.

In defense, the Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NLGRB Denis Ngabirano confessed before lawmakers that his entity has been regulating the gaming sector for years without the requisite standards in place.

In defense, the board attributed the anomaly to Uganda’s standards body, the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) that has delayed to approve the 14 standards which they submitted for verification in 2021. They added that even UNBS has no technology capacity to test and certify gaming equipment.

He therefore begged that the committee use its powers to compel the line ministry and standards body to approve and enact the said standards.

The comment went on to indicate that the initial set of standards that had been put in place were overly aligned to the South African Legal system and therefore unsuitable for the Ugandan context, which therefore demanded that a fresh set of standards be generated and implemented.

Source: nilepost.co.ug

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