Rakai trader dies after shs0.7million gambling loss

By Davis Buyondo in Rakai

KALISIZO police detectives are investigating circumstances under which a 30 year-old produce dealer died after reportedly losing 700,000 shillings after betting.

Preliminary investigations by police say they suspect that Nyanzi could have ended his own life in a betting-related incident, although they have not established the actual cause of death.

Patrick Nyanzi’s body was found in one of the maize plantations in Kitto Village in Kalisizo town council by residents who had gone to harvest at the time.

Noah Sserunjoji, the Southern Region Police Spokesperson, confirmed the incident saying that police has recovered a bottle of weed master (a chemical used to spray and eliminate weeds in a garden) from the scene.

According to Kizito Mutebi, the Kito LCI chairperson, Nyanzi lost the said amount of money to a fellow gambler with whom he had placed a bet. Mutebi said that the incident is occuring at a time most youths are taken up by gambling to get rich quick.

"Although Nyanzi was a prominent gambler, we cannot really tell what caused his death. We hear he has lost more than that (700,000shs) in the past but what killed him is not yet clear,” Mutebi explained.

He revealed that most youth spend money and time betting with high hopes of making profits from the gaming companies instead of doing productive work.

Police chief Sserunjoji further blamed the incident to the idle and disorderly nature of a majority of youths saying that police is going to conduct an operation to crack down such people in Kalisizo town. He said idleness is one of the leading causes of crime in the district.

 The deceased’s body was been taken to Kalisizo Hospital for post-mortem as investigations into the cause of his death goes on.  Results are yet to be got.

 Last week, Rakai district councillors called upon government and members of parliament to enact very strict laws against gambling companies in order to realise the productivity of the youths in the district. 

The speaker Paul Wasswa said that that many residents have lost a lot of money to betting which has affected development in the district.