Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has signed deportation orders against 17 foreigners who are directors of gambling firms in the country.
This follows a crackdown on betting firms in the country.
According to reports, the deportees violated work permits engaging in business not stated on the application.
“Some of them came into the country as tourists, while others came with visas not related to doing business, but they have changed and are now engaged in betting,” a source intimated to a local daily.
Majority of the affected foreigners are Europeans. They are required to leave the country immediately.
Last week the government ordered the suspension of pay bill numbers of 27 betting firms over non-compliance in tax returns.
Read: Blow To 27 Gambling Firms As Gov’t Orders Suspension Of Their Pay Bill Numbers
President Uhuru Kenyatta also weighed on the issue on Saturday saying the government will not backtrack on its efforts to regulate the betting sector.
The President said a failure by the betting firms to remit tax was hurting the government’s development agenda.
A report by a multi-agency team tasked to probe the betting firms reportedly revealed that despite the companies making a whopping Ksh204 billion from the business last year, they only remitted Ksh4 billion in taxes.
Some of the firms that have been affected include Sportpesa, Betin and Betway.
Also Read: New Bill Seeks To Regulate Use Of Mobile Phones In Gambling
Others are Betpawa, Elitebet, PremierBet, Lucky2u, 1xBet, MozzartBet, Dafabet, World Sports Betting, Atari Gaming, Palms Bet and Betboss.
Dafabet, Kick-Off, Atari, Millionaire Sports Bet, Palmsbet, Chezacash, Betyetu, Bungabet, Cysabet, Saharabet, Easibet, Easleighbet, Sportybet and AGB Lottery & Gaming had their licenses cancelled.
CS Matiang’i had vowed to revoke all licenses for betting firms until they passed a vetting exercise that included them providing a tax compliance certificate.
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