Kenya has proposed a wide-ranging gambling overhaul that would speed small payouts, impose stricter verification on larger winnings and punish operators that delay paying winners. The draft also adds self-exclusion tools, account-freeze powers and tighter controls on how gambling firms open and run business.
Business Daily Africa said the Gambling Control (Conduct of Gambling Operations) Regulations, 2026 were gazetted on June 30. Under those changes, betting firms could suspend accounts of punters showing signs of financial distress or harmful gambling habits, and families or other interested parties could ask the Gaming Regulatory Authority of Kenya to bar someone from gambling.
If a firm suspends a gambler, it must tell GRAK within 24 hours and cite the risk facing the punter. The regulator would then review the decision and notify the affected person, while also allowing the gambler to oppose a family request before approving or declining it.
The Kenyan Wall Street report said operators would also have to complete a pre-opening checklist at least seven days before launch and satisfy 18 separate conditions. Those include proof of sufficient gaming capital, inspection and calibration of equipment, fit-and-proper clearance for directors, data-protection certification and integration with tax systems and the regulator’s central monitoring platform.
Platforms would have to use approved domain names, geolocation technology to block prohibited jurisdictions and encrypted, tamper-evident audit logs. Operators would also need to segregate customer funds from operating accounts, give the Authority real-time monitoring access through APIs and store player data on servers in Kenya unless exempted.
Running an online gambling platform without approval would be an offence punishable by a fine of up to KSh1 million, six months in prison or both. The Authority would also gain powers to license, inspect, audit, suspend and revoke operators across casinos, bookmakers, online betting platforms, lotteries, bingo, jackpots and pool betting.
Payouts would be processed in tiers. Prizes of up to KSh500,000 would be paid automatically after basic identity verification.
Winnings from KSh500,001 to KSh5 million would need additional ownership and anti-money-laundering checks and be paid within five working days. Winnings from KSh5 million to KSh50 million would take up to 14 working days after enhanced verification.
Jackpot prizes above KSh50 million could take up to 30 working days and may be structured in instalments with financial counselling. Operators that delay paying winners would face escalating financial penalties.
The draft also requires deposit, expenditure and session limits, reality-check alerts, rapid self-exclusion tools and links to the national exclusion register. Self-exclusion could last six months, one year, two years or indefinitely.
Once exclusion takes effect, operators must shut excluded people out of accounts, wagers and winnings until the ban ends. Firms that accept bets from excluded individuals would have to refund stakes, forfeit winnings to the Authority and risk suspension or revocation.
Business Daily said the changes build on a system in which only gamblers could apply to exclude themselves for a defined period, though betting firms already had to publish self-exclusion provisions on their websites. The new regulations also give family members or other interested parties a route to exclusion, and the regulator can set the exclusion period and inform all betting firms once it approves a request.
Advertising would also be restricted: no targeting minors or vulnerable persons, no marketing gambling as a way out of financial hardship, no placement in media where more than a quarter of the expected audience is underage, and no ads or licensed premises within 200 metres of educational institutions. The packet also contains two charitable-funding formulations, one requiring at least 25% of gross lottery proceeds for charitable causes and another setting charitable allocations at 30% to 45% of gross revenue, with monthly disbursements and utilisation reports overseen by the Authority.
The draft says it is meant to strengthen Kenya’s anti-money-laundering regime in a liquidity-heavy industry, and separately says the country still faces a difficult path out of the FATF greylist. The Financial Reporting Centre has already described casinos as medium risk for money-laundering abuse and requires them to register through GoAML, appoint an MLRO and use a risk-based approach.
The wider legal backdrop runs from the 1948 Gambling Ordinance Act, which outlawed gambling in public and gaming establishments, to the 1966 Betting, Lotteries and Gaming Act and the 2010 Constitution’s shared national-county jurisdiction over gambling. A 2016 amendment bill also gave the Authority power to regulate and control betting and gaming, issue licences and permits, and vary, suspend or cancel them for good cause.
Earlier regulations already required operators to file payouts above one million shillings within 24 hours, report currency transactions above that level within 48 hours and fit gaming areas with CCTV cameras.
