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Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
THERE is high demand for casino licences and the Lotteries and Gaming Board (LGB) needs to be vigilant in ensuring that it maintains the correct gaming density as well as ensure safe gambling, a Cabinet Minister has warned.
In his keynote address during the LGB Annual General Meeting in Nyanga recently, Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister, Honourable Kazembe Kazembe reminded LGB of the need to promote safe gambling and maintain proper gambling density.
“In your own report and the brief that you gave me, you said there is full recognition of the need to observe the gambling density and the need to promote safe gambling. Gambling density and safe gambling, I think those are two issues you need to deal with. I was noticing how the board was praising itself for having issued out so many licences, but how does that co-relate with issues to do with gambling density.
“It is good to be open for business because that is what the Second Republic is all about, but at the same time we also need to protect the same industry. We need to issue those licences responsibly and ensure that we maintain density.
“We do not want to have a situation where you have more gaming houses than people. Where will the clients come from? I have noticed that there is a high demand for casino licences. We need to remain vigilant on how many casinos we should have.
“I have noticed that in Harare, there is one road where you have two or three casinos. I do not know whether this is normal, but it is your duty as LGB to see to it that we do not kill the same industry. We need to maintain the proper density,” said Minister Kazembe.
He called for revision of penalties of illegal gambling as a way of protecting those investing in the lotteries and gaming sector.
“When it comes to illegal gambling, I do not know how deterrent the penalties we have are. My interest is in protecting the industry. It is not good to have people paying a lot of money, investing in this business, and then other people start operating illegally. Are our penalties deterrent enough? This is something we really need to look at seriously,” he said.
Minister Kazembe also urged LGB to speedily facilitate implementation of technological monitoring of activities in the lotteries and gaming industry.
In her presentation at the same event, LGB board chairperson, Dr Eugenia Chidhakwa said the exchange rate volatility as well as power outages militated against the smooth running of the industry.
“High power outages, high inflation, the exchange rate and people were coming from the effects of Covid-19 were some of the excuses that we got from operators for not remitting what is due to us.
“Therefore, they were looking at the operating environment and say we are having these challenges. However, I would want to say even under these challenges, they were able to stay afloat and played their part under difficult circumstances,” she said.
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