A clampdown on illegal gambling has been launched in Namibia, South’s Africa’s neighbour, with the owners of unlicensed gambling machines facing jail or large fines.
Pohamba Shifeta, Minister of Environment and Tourism, said during a parliamentary debate on the Gambling and Entertainment Bill that the country has around 20,000 illegal machines.
He said that the bill would set up a gambling board with powers to establish and maintain a register of every machine manufactured within or imported into Namibia. The bill also provided for the setting up of a centralised monitoring system to monitor trends and keep track of gaming.
There are currently 160 licence holders in the country, six for casinos and the others for gambling arcades. There are also 2,845 registered machines operating. The industry contributes revenues of N$22m (€1.47m) annually.
