Kenya’s gambling industry is expanding at an alarming pace, leaving countless families in financial and emotional distress, warns the Muslim Women Advancement of Rights and Protection (MWARP).
According to the organisation, Kenyans lose a staggering Sh88.5 billion annually to betting, with women and children bearing the brunt of the consequences.
MWARP highlighted in a statement on Wednesday, October 8, 2025, that betting companies heavily advertise their jackpot winners while keeping silent about the millions who lose their savings.
“Betting and gambling present our society with a devastating paradox wrapped in a seductive illusion. What promises financial freedom delivers financial bondage, what advertises itself as entertainment becomes enslavement. Betting platforms show jackpot winners while hiding millions who lose everything, presenting gambling as legitimate entrepreneurship when it is actually a mathematically guaranteed system extracting wealth from the desperate to funnel it into corporate profits,” said Rahma Gulam Abbas, MWARP’s Executive Director.
Research by MWARP indicates that 84 per cent of Kenyan youth have tried betting, with about one-third engaging daily. This amounts to daily losses of roughly Sh242 million, funds that could instead pay for rent, school fees, or daily household needs.
As family incomes dwindle, women increasingly shoulder the responsibility of supporting households, leading to tension, financial strain, and in extreme cases, malnutrition and children dropping out of school.
“While public discussions focus on unemployment and quick-money schemes, MWARP is drawing attention to a hidden crisis inside homes across Kenya. Behind every betting addiction statistic is a family in turmoil, and it is often women who must bear the burden. When fathers gamble away rent, mothers face eviction. When school fees disappear into betting apps, daughters’ education is interrupted. Wives become sole providers while partners chase unlikely wins,” the organisation stated.
“This is not just an individual problem; it is a family catastrophe multiplied across millions of households.”
MWARP also condemned the influence of technology and celebrity endorsements in normalising gambling. Mobile money apps have turned smartphones into “round-the-clock casinos,” while athletes, musicians, and media personalities profit from promoting betting without acknowledging its social cost.
“Meanwhile, famous athletes, musicians, and media personalities lend their faces to campaigns that glamorise risk-taking without acknowledging the broken families left in their wake,” said Rahma.
“Children see their heroes winning big, but they don’t see the mothers lining up at food banks or the children being sent home for unpaid school fees.”
To counter this growing crisis, MWARP introduced a five-point emergency plan.
The measures include legislation holding celebrities accountable for promoting betting, mandatory spousal notification for accounts exceeding set limits, emergency support funds for affected women and children, community healing centres, and programs to channel youth into vocational training and lawful businesses.
MWARP described gambling as a moral emergency, where companies exploit desperation, technology fuels addiction, and celebrity endorsements sell false hope. Through its “Reclaim Our Families” initiative, MWARP plans community workshops, support groups, and legislative advocacy to protect families.
“Every day we delay action, another mother watches her family's future gambled away on a smartphone. Another daughter's education ended because fees became betting stakes. Another family slides from stability into poverty,” said MWARP.