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Radios have deviated from their key duty

 

  • Radios have deviated from their key duty

    Popular local radio stations have turned into betting machines.

        

    By Veronica Onjoro

    IN SUMMARY

    Whenever you turn on the radio, you are asked to send money and win, say, Sh100,000.

    The government should bring back sanity to radio broadcasting and stop this blatant gambling that is destroying our society.

    Radio has the widest audience footprint, reaching millons of people. In Africa, it has the widest geographical reach and biggest audiences compared with the internet, television and newspapers. It is free. 

    However, popular local radio stations have turned into betting machines. There are no jobs, Covid-19 is ravaging the communities and the economy is yet to recover.

    But whenever you turn on the radio, you are asked to send money and win, say, Sh100,000. A little arithmetic: With 500 people sending Sh100-500 per day and only one winning per programme, how much do the stations rake in?

    The government should bring back sanity to radio broadcasting and stop this blatant gambling that is destroying our society.

    Gambling is not included in the broadcasting licence granted by the ICT ministry. Besides, there are rules and regulations that govern gambling; who regulates these hourly prizes? Where is the Betting Control and Licensing Board? 

    Bill in National Assembly

    What happened to the bill before the National Assembly that sought to revamp the regulatory framework for gambling, imposing significantly higher costs on licensed operators and establishing the country’s first national lottery? 

    The Gaming Bill 2019, designed to replace the 1966 Betting, Lotteries and Gaming Act, aims to update the country’s regulations to reflect the prominence of online operators in the market.

    In the bill, television and radio advertising would dedicate at least 10 per cent of air time to responsible gaming messaging with gambling ads prohibited from airing between 6am and 10pm unless during live sports broadcasts.

    There was also a bid to limit how many ads could be broadcast by introducing the Gaming Advertisement Tax of 35 per cent per ad. 

    The deviation of the radio stations into gambling should catch the eye of regulators.

    By
    Veronica Onjoro
    onjoroveronica@yahoo.com


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