Devil’s Advocate: The Morality of Betting and the Hypocrisy of Kenyans

When Kenya’s Members of Parliament were discussing the betting industry in the country, I could not help but wonder whether they knew what they were talking about.

The allegations that the honorable members were leveling against the betting firms in the country were allegations with unfounded truths and baseless evidence.

There have been allegations that these betting firms have perfected the art of evading tax, engaging in money laundering as well as engaging in depriving Kenyans of their livelihood.

As the debate rages on, there is a clear dishonesty in this matter as many other important issues of public interest have been ignored by the same members of parliament unless there was some direct benefit to them.

Let me start with the issue of tax evasion. First, who is in charge of revenue collection in the country? Is it the National Assembly or the Kenya Revenue Authority? Who should raise an alarm over tax evasion by betting companies in the country if there are any? Is it the Kenya Revenue Authority or the National Parliament? My point here is, if these betting firms were depriving Caesar what rightfully belongs to him, the first body to notice this would have been the Kenya Revenue Authority. Most of these firms are operating within the laws and rules laid down within the law. Sportpesa for instance, one of the betting giants in the country, holds a certificate of appreciation from Kenya Revenue Authority for being among the best tax payers in the country after an audit by the revenue authority. If firms like Sportpesa have been evading payment of taxes, where are such certificates of appreciation coming from? The allegations, therefore, that these firms do not pay tax are innuendos, unfounded with no tangible waters to support them.

Read: The Betting Craze in Kenya: Sportpesa beyond Kenya

What about the issue of money laundering? By definition, money laundering is “the concealment of the origins of illegally obtained money, typically by means of transfers involving foreign banks or legitimate businesses.” Did Members of Parliament have this definition in mind when they were discussing this issue? The betting industry in Kenya majorly uses mobile platforms to transact their money. Those taking part use mobile money transfer mediums such as MPESA while the firms too award their winners via the same mobile money transfer platforms such as MPESA. Allow me to use the example of Sportpesa once again. If Sportpesa was laundering money, common sense does not take the money to sponsorship where it does not get back to the pockets of the person claimed to be money laundering. Where is the evidence that these firms are using foreign bank accounts? Where is the evidence that these firms are obtaining money illegally?

I just think that Members of Parliament wasted a lot of time as well as the taxpayer’s money in terms of sitting allowances discussing this issue. Members of parliament would have taken that time discussing and deliberating upon some of the ailing companies in Kenya like Uchumi, Kenya Airways, Mumias Sugar and many more instead of talking about the companies that are doing well. If the Members of Parliament were honest, should they not have applied the same measures they are pulling on a private company to ensure these public corporations were back on their feet and the people behind their looting faced justice? Why do we like fighting good things? Sportpesa for instance is a Kenyan brand going international, shouldn’t there be a sense of pride in this and encourage other Kenyan brands to follow the steps?

About people who take part in the betting activities, has anyone forced them to bet? Has these firms gone to anyone and forced them to bet? MPs should know that Kenyans are desperate. There are no jobs and people have nothing to fall back to. Betting is the only way where Kenyans are finding something to do and winning some money. Even if some are losing, it is their choise and no one has forced them to.

I do not have a stake in Sportpesa but I am widely using it as an example because the company is actually worth being used as an example. The deeds of this firm can be seen and felt all over. For instance, Sportpesa is supporting the sports industry which only a few years ago was in financial chaos. In total, Sportpesa has in the last one year provided sponsorship deals worth over 1.6 billion Kenya shillings. This has resurrected dying teams like AFC leopards, dying sports like boxing and many more. In many countries, governments offer tax relief/rebates to such companies, maybe it is time the Kenyan government did the same and tasked Sportpesa to handle the upgrade and creation of sport facilities in the country instead of wanting to bring it down in what seems to be a witch-hunt.

With these political attacks of Sportpesa and the betting industry in general coming on the heels of announcements of major sponsorship deals, other corporate bodies interested in building capacity for the industry may shy away in fear of being victimized, thus killing the industry.