How govt’s centralised gateway drove betting stakes to sh14 trillion

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Last year, on January 24, 2025, the House Committee on Finance interfaced with the Uganda Betting and Gaming Alliance, led by Dr Innocent Nahabwe, over the proposed Tax Procedures Code (Amendment) Bill, 2025.

At the heart of the Bill, which has since become law, was a proposal requiring all casino, gaming and betting operators to receive wagers or money staked and make payouts exclusively through a centralised gaming and betting payments gateway licensed by the Bank of Uganda under the National Payment Systems framework.

The Bill also sought to introduce a provision under which any operator that failed to integrate with the system would be liable to a penal tax equivalent to double the gaming or withholding tax due, or sh110 million, whichever was higher.

The centralised gateway was designed to interface directly with the Uganda Revenue Authority’s electronic notice system, enabling real-time monitoring of transactions and tax compliance.

Betting alliance fears

In submissions at the time, Nahabwe warned that the proposal, given the speed at which it was being pushed, was potentially devastating to the industry.

“I know there is a move towards electronic payments, and they are benchmarking on the region. We think if it needs to be done, it should be in a phased approach. To ensure that we are able to adapt and we have new systems that can be able to accommodate this. But in the meantime, we think cash should be maintained,” Nahabwe stated.

“As of last year, we paid sh196b. The projections already for this year, upwards of sh250b from the tax. But beyond that, even in our areas, from the communities where we come from, we know that the buildings that are there, in most of those townships and constituencies that you lead, most of those buildings are actually occupied by betting companies,” he contended. 

Adding that “All those companies are employing so many people, but many mostly young girls and boys who would otherwise not have jobs. We employ upwards of 150,000 people in this sector alone.”

Gamble pays off

However, contrary to those fears, government’s gamble appears to have paid off. The National Lotteries and Gaming Board now projects that more than sh14.1 trillion will be staked on gambling and sports betting in the 2025/26 financial year, buoyed by the rollout of the National Central Electronic Monitoring System.

Bernard Winyi, a senior manager in charge of finance and administration, made the disclosure on Wednesday, January 21, 2025, while appearing before the Finance Committee chaired by Rwampara County MP Amos Kankunda of the NRM. The engagement was anchored on the Budget Framework Paper for the upcoming 2026/27 financial year.

“Now, through the National Central Electronic Monitoring System, we have more visibility of the operators and the activity in the gaming industry. In 2022/23, the level of money that people were gambling, which we were seeing, at that time, it was self-declaration by the operators; it was sh2.4 trillion. That was the money that was being declared as the money that people had staked on gambling. So, when we operationalised the system in 2023/24, those stakes grew to sh4.3 trillion,” Winyi stated.

“Now in 2024/25, because of that visibility, it grew to sh8.3 trillion, and this financial year 2025/26, we are projecting that the amount of money that people put through gambling is sh14.1 trillion. So, it has enabled us to get visibility and, by so doing, improve on the tax collections,” added Winyi.

He further noted that between July and December last year, sh176 billion had been raised in revenue from sports betting and gambling in casinos across the country.

“We project to collect sh391Bn by the end of the (2025/26) Financial Year. Similarly, the NTR has been growing. Our 2026/26 budget will be utilised to support increasing revenue by fifteen per cent from gambling and gaming from the projected sh391Bn which we project this year, to Sh450Bn in the financial year 2026/27,” said Winyi.

His submission followed Finance Committee chairperson Amos Kankunda’s reminder that the former had not addressed the impact of the new system approved by Parliament.

“Has it helped to improve?” Kankunda probed.

Why compliance matters

During a stakeholder engagement held on June 4, 2025, at Mestil Hotel in Nsambya, Kampala, Aloysius Mugasa Adyeeri, the then chairperson of the National Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board, said increased compliance was key to fixing long-standing challenges in the sector.

“Compliance is not a burden, and it is the baseline. It is the foundation upon which a credible and sustainable industry is built. When operators fully comply with the law, the sector benefits: public confidence is enhanced, government revenue increases, and vulnerable populations, especially the youth, are better protected,” Mugasa said at the time.