The National Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board has conducted a successful enforcement exercise in Kampala to confiscate illegal slot machines and spare parts.
After a series of investigations, the National Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board identified and raided shops in downtown Kampala selling illegal machines.
As a result of the enforcement exercise, 198 illegal slot machines and 12 boxes of gaming machine spare parts were confiscated.
“My team has been able to capture 198 illegal slot machines and 12 boxes of gaming machine spare parts and this is part of the enforcement against unlicensed coin machines that is ongoing across the country and this is mainly intelligence-led where we get information of suppliers and manufacturers of similar machines,” said Mr Denis Mudene Ngabirano the Chief Executive Officer, National Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board.
Mr Ngabirano further revealed that their target is to get to the warehouses where these machines are assembled before being brought to the showrooms in town.
“What the team has enforced against is a showroom where these machines are sold from however we are trying to trace where the manufacturing and assembling takes place and I am pretty sure that we will get to the bottom of this and pick all the machines and spare parts in those warehouses,” he said.
He also appealed to all Ugandans to provide any information that would lead to the confiscation of illegal gaming machines.
“I would like to implore all Ugandans who have information on where these machines are being manufactured and assembled within the country to share with us so that we can be able to protect citizens against substandard and illegal gaming machines that have not been licensed and approved by the National Lottery and Gaming regulatory board.”
Mr Ngabirano also highlighted that anyone to manufacture gaming machines should acquire a license and currently, there are only two licensed operators in the country
“I would like to tell Ugandans that for anyone to manufacture and supply gaming equipment, they must have a license called Supply Adapt and manufacture of gaming equipment.
At the moment we only have two licensed operators who supply equipment that is tested and certified against international standards.”
Mr Aloysius Mugasa Adyeri, the Board Chairman of the National Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board said that the enforcement exercises are still ongoing and more mega ones are yet to come.
“For those operating illegally, we are confiscating their machines to make sure that we make their work very difficult to operate. The number of machines we have been confiscating every year is in thousands and we are clamping down on manufacturers because we have illegal machines that have come into this country in the form of spare parts for other things,” he said before adding that; “It is our responsibility to make sure we stop this and we are not going to leave any stone unturned.”
The National Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board has over 3500 confiscated gaming machines in their warehouses and the process to destroy these gaming equipment has already started.
