The National Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board (NLGRB) partnered with the National Enterprise Corporation (NEC) to destroy illegal gaming machines.
According to Sect. 5 of the Lotteries and Gaming Act, Cap 334, the Board is granted the mandate to seize and confiscate unlicensed equipment and devices. Following a series of investigations and compliance checks, the NLGRB identified and raided premises running illegal gaming operations in Uganda.
“The law states that a person who operates a casino, betting, lottery, bingo without a license 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 license” stated Mr. Denis Mudene Ngabirano, CEO of the National Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board.
According to the CEO, the Board has confiscated over 5000 illegal gaming machines. Of that number, over 2300 were submitted to National Enterprise Corporation for destruction at Luwero Industries Limited in Nakasongola.
Prior to destruction, the National Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board seeks a court order from the Standards and Utilities Court-Makindye. The same court also gives the Board a court order to collect the money (legal tender) found in the confiscated illegal gaming machines and submit it to the consolidated fund. It is worth noting that this money is collected in the presence of the Auditor.
As part of the destruction, information was obtained from Luwero Industries’ Waste Manager Mariam
Kantinti to understand how the machine destruction process is handled. “When we receive the machines from the gaming Board, we ascertain the quantities and also weigh them. We then sort and segregate according to the waste type. The machines have glass, plastic, metal, cables, and wood.” Mariam Kantinti explained.
At the core of the Board’s actions is a strong commitment to player protection, the public interest, and upholding the integrity of the gaming industry. By removing unlicensed and illegal machines from operation, the Board is taking decisive steps to ensure that punters are not exploited or misled.
