Whereas Uganda tries to regulate the gambling sector through the Gambling Act, 2018, a widespread of gambling activities still take place underground. They are unregistered and have no licence from the regulatory body.
These are usually hidden from public view, and takes place in shops, homesteads, bus ranks, small bars, shebeens, culverts, bushes, restaurants.
According to the National Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board says major illegal betting forms include card games for money, dice games for money unless on licensed premises, internet or online gambling.
The harm from illegal/informal betting activities
Engagement in informal betting activities comes with innumerable challenges such as becoming vulnerable to violence, extortion, and fraud. Others include no payout guarantees, fake games with rigged algorithms to ensure that players lose and owners win; identity theft as no data protection guarantees; and risk of arrests as participating in illegal betting is a criminal offence.
Illegal betting leads to social and health dangers
Besides, there are health and social dangers that come with engagement in betting, and these dangers are amplified as illegal gambling takes hold.
They are:
- Uncontrolled Addiction where illegal sites rarely offer responsible gambling tools like deposit limits or self-exclusion, making it easier for users to fall into severe Gambling Disorder.
- The stress of hidden debt often leads to anxiety, depression, and, in severe cases, suicidal thoughts.
- Family Destruction where informal betting often leads to lying, theft from loved ones, and domestic violence.
- Vicious Debt Cycles as the dopamine forces users to turn to predatory “loan sharks” or informal borrowing to cover losses.
On the society,
It can disrupt cohesion through funding of organised crime and criminal activities such as trafficking and human smuggling; it can facilitate money laundering and corruption in sports. On the other hand, it can be an avenue to avoid taxes, impacting government revenues for activities such as healthcare and education.
Key information: Gambling harms those close to us
- People with gambling disorders were 15 times more likely to die by suicide than the general population.
- Impact on others: For every person who gambles at high-risk levels, an average of six others (usually non-gamblers) are affected.
- Gambling may also divert normal consumption expenditure from other businesses.
