Smuggled illegal gambling machines flood Uganda
Regulator says illegal machines deprive the government of much-needed revenues and leave players at risk of gambling harm.
Uganda.- The National Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board (NIGRB) has sounded the alarm over the rising number of illegal gaming machines being smuggled into Uganda. According to the regulator, these machines deprive the government of much-needed revenue and leave players vulnerable to manipulated games and gambling harm.
Denis Mudene Ngabirano, NLGRB CEO, claims that smugglers are disguising gaming machines as spare parts to bring them into the country, where they’re assembled for illegal gaming purposes.
He said: “They import parts disguised as electronic spares and hire local carpenters to build cabinets. The assembled machines are then distributed around the country illegally.”
To curb the influx of these unlicensed gaming machines, the regulator is collaborating with the Uganda Revenue Authority to monitor and intercept them at ports of entry. Upon seizure, the machines are handed over to the National Enterprise Corporation, a licensed e-waste management firm at Luwero Industries Limited in Nakasongola, which disposes of them in an environmentally friendly way.
In a recent crackdown, the NLGRB seized 154 illicit gaming machines in Mpigi, Masaka, and nearby towns, subsequently destroying 2,347 others, pushing the total destroyed this year to 3,347.
Before destroying the machines, the NLGRB secures a court order from the Standards and Utilities Court-Makindye, which also allows it to collect the legal tender found in the machines and remit it to the consolidated fund.
Mariam Kantini, waste manager at Luwero Industries, addressed the rumours that the confiscated gaming machines get reused or resold into the market.
She said: “It is very false that these machines ever find their way back to the public once confiscated and delivered to us for destruction. We maintain a strict collaborative value chain of registry and transparent process from confiscation, court orders, to destruction.”
