DTA member of parliament Nico Smit says the proposed law that will create a state-owned gambling body lacks details on how proceeds will be used.
Smit made these remarks on Tuesday during the debate on the Lotteries Bill, which was tabled in the National Assembly by environment minister Pohamba Shifeta.
A state lottery often involves a participant competing in games such as scratch-off tickets and number picking to win cash prizes if their number is chosen or matches the drawn digits.
The government wants to enter that market in order to raise money for the state, but Smit was not impressed with some of the key parts of the bill.
“We are being asked to pass this bill, whose primary aim is to establish a state lottery, without having a genuine and clear idea what will be done with the proceeds of the lottery, or who, aside from bursaries for students and pupils, will be the targeted beneficiaries of the State Lottery Trust Fund,” he said.
The politician said although he supports the creation of the state lottery, he questioned the lack of clarity on how proceeds would be disbursed.
He said although part of the bill explains that proceeds will be held in a trust fund by the lotteries board for educational grants with some of the money to be sent to the state revenue fund, this is still not clear enough.
Smit picked on the use of the word “any national cause” included in the bill.
“The reference to any national cause or advance governmental objectives do not really make it any clearer as to precisely what will be done with the proceeds” he reiterated.
He further questioned whether the proceeds from the gambling programmes will be used to buy houses, agricultural land to distribute to poor families, or fund construction projects like roads.
The opposition party member said even though the Harambee Prosperity Plan informed the public about the plan to create a lottery body to use the funds for poverty alleviation programmes, this is not reflected in the bill tabled in parliament.
“Strangely, this noble and very clear intention is not directly manifested in the proposed Lotteries Bill,” Smit added.
United People`s Movement (UPM) member of parliament Jan van Wyk said gambling is a known addiction, and studies had proven that low-income earners are the most exploited by this type of gambling.
He questioned what safety nets the government had put in place to ensure that addiction is tackled, especially now that it is creating the industry to make money.
In the United States of America, an organisation called the National Council on Problem Gambling assists problem gamblers and their families.
Shifeta said during his motivation for this bill that money from the state gambling entity would be “allocated to good causes”.
A private company will be given a licence to run the lottery on behalf of government.
“The preferred applicant must meet the essential requirements in terms of infrastructure, management capability, and financial capacity provided for under the terms of the competition, and also the most favourable highest licence fee proposal,” the minister noted.
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