How Moses Kuria intends to make betting a ‘full-time job’ in Kenya
It is about time that the government set up a pension fund for all gamblers in the country, Gatundu South Member of Parliament Moses Kuria has said.
Speaking on Tuesday while appearing on the AM Live show on NTV, Mr Kuria lamented how betting has become a big problem that cannot be stopped.
His solution, however, was that we help make good of the problem instead of just playing the blame game.
GAMBLERS
Mr Kuria says he will push for an amendment in parliament to redirect the 10 percent excises duty charged on all betting sites to help the gamblers by setting up a pension account for them.
“By the way you cannot stop betting, since you cannot stop it make good use of it. Just last week we passed a supplementary budget which out of it six billion coming from betting is going to universal healthcare. Thirty billion this year is the budget for the sports fund,” Kuria said.
BETTING COUNTRY
“Out of it 65 percent is going to healthcare, so this year we might get around 22 billion from betting. By the way even the ten percent excise duty Rotich proposed in the budget I am going to move an amendment and instead of giving government that money to go to a blind box somewhere. Let us open a personal pension account for every betting person so that betting becomes a job and they get a pension,” he added.
In April CS Fred Matiang’i said that betting agencies will soon be suspended until the holders of those licences provide proof of their tax remittance compliance.
According to the CS, Kenya has turned into a betting country, which is not the way it should be.