Gambian MPs raise concerns over street gambling epidemic
Hon. Saikou Bah labelled street gambling as a form of daylight robbery.
The Gambia.- Two lawmakers in The Gambia have sounded the alarm over the worrisome rise of street gambling in the jurisdiction.
In a recent adjournment debate, Hon. Musa Cham (Serekunda MP) and Hon. Saikou Bah (Basse MP) raised concerns about the adverse impacts of underground gambling, particularly on Gambian youth and vulnerable groups.
The lawmakers noted that urban areas have been the most affected by the proliferation of street gambling. They called on the government to intensify its efforts to regulate the activity through tougher enforcement actions and public awareness programs.
According to Cham, Serekunda’s streets are overrun with unregulated gambling establishments, with their operators claiming to have local council registration and Inspector General of Police permits.
Cham said: “I went to the inspector general of police. I engaged the deputy inspector general of police and the guy told me that it is part of the process of registration. They are issued a permit to operate. But we want to be specific to those that leverage them to operate in public places in the communities.”
Cham stressed that, as community members, they firmly oppose issuing permits for gambling ventures due to their potential social challenges, particularly for the youth.
Meanwhile, Bah labeled street gambling as a form of daylight robbery. The lawmaker said that his constituency, Basse, is proactively working to keep gambling businesses, even those with licences, out of their community.
Bah also corroborated that street gambling vendors often use police-issued permits to justify their operations. He said: “We engaged the police, and finally, we asked them to leave Basse, and they left Basse. So please the police should look into this because they are using it as a benchmark that they have licence from the police as if the police is backing them to do those dubious things.
“So most of the time, they even force innocent people to play the games to defraud them. And some of them are not even Gambians. So they used our Gambians to get the licence and try to defraud us.”
The legislators’ demand comes on the heels of The Gambia Action Party’s (GAP) recent call for a betting ban. According to the opposition party, gambling is fuelling addiction, crime and social collapse among young people.
