Uganda’s gambling history is defined by liberal stances and approaches. The practice began becoming regulated as early as the 1960s with the nation’s achievement of independence through the efforts led by Milton Obote. The establishment of legal frameworks and regulations mean that Uganda has one of the oldest legal gambling histories in Africa.
But this has not come without its issues. In recent years, Uganda has emerged as one of the nations with a severe gambling problem, one that shows no signs of settling down. Thousands of youthful Ugandans get trapped in the throws of online gambling, and do not come out unscathed.
In response to this, president Yoweri Museveni has announced a ban on sports betting. No new licenses to sports betting operators are to be issued, and no licenses will be renewed when current licenses expire. A drastic move for a drastic problem.
But is it the right move? History suggests that removing the core of the issue, while in theory is the right choice, often does not lead to the desired outcome. The decision to ban sports betting may remove the presence of licensed bookmakers, but those experiencing gambling problems may turn to unlicensed operators, furthering the risk as they are no longer protected by the overarching legislation that once protected them.
For example, in South Africa, betting sites are the only platforms that are able to provide online gambling, but illegal online casinos are still very much alive and well, to the extent where some have even won awards for their product offerings.
It can be argued that if anything, a potential ban on sports betting could harm the situation further, instead of achieving what it set out to do initially.
The answer may unfortunately be in trial and error. While there is no knowing which is the right solution to this problem, a positive outcome that can be taken from the iminent sports betting ban in Uganda is that it is an intervention.
But interventions to problems such as this need to be flexible, and need to undergo rigorous assessment and potential reform.
Here is a list of potential other reforms that could aid the Ugandan people in their fight against problem gambling:
Education
Educating the people on the potentially devastating effects that problem gambling may cause is one intervention that could aid the fight against problem gambling.
This can also be seen as a public reform strategy, that can lead to increased community engagement, and heightened awareness.
Gambling, much like alcohol and tobacco, are designed for enjoyment, but when indulged in too much, can have devastating effects. If these effects are made known, they could see a decline.
Increasing the Minimum Age of Gambling
A potential explainer for the reason there is such an issue with problem gambling in Uganda is the fact that it is offered to the wrong age category of people.
With youth comes the tendency to engage in more risk taking behaviour, and with age comes more financial savvy and often better decision making.
If the minimum age of Gambling is raised to say between 25 and 30, it may give some more youthful citizens the chance to get some years and experience behind them, hopefully altering their prospective gambling strategies for the better.
Greater cooperation between the state and operators
A third and final possible suggestion would be the cooperation between state and operators. This way, government will have a better chance to regulate the industry in a way that protects users from the dangers of online gambling.
With the cooperation of state and operators, there is a higher likelihood that more solutions could be found. For example, operators could work to set limits or atleast create a function that allows players to set their own limits.
There is no one solution to this multifaceted issue, and furthermore, it should not be treated as an issue with one solution. If the state goes ahead with the imminent ban, there are chances that certain issues may be perpetuated.