Invest Betting Taxes into Sports: EAC Legislators Urged
Ntoudi Mouyelo, Managing Director Mchezo has urged the EAC legislators to come up with policies that will absorb the billions of taxes collected from betting companies into Sports.
He was speaking during the roundtable conversation with the legislators and other stakeholders on the sidelines of the Inter-Parliamentary Games in Kigali.
He stated, “This is an opportunity for us to share that maybe, together, we can look at certain laws and regulations to make sport a higher priority.” Betting Taxes Sports EAC
This year, parliamentary games are held in Kigali, Rwanda, and Mchezo is the primary sponsor of the event. The countries involved are Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi.
Mchezo also sponsors the Uganda Football League and Futsal leagues, thus the need to speak on the growth and development of sports in the region.
Read Also: Botswana Gambling Authority Launches the Gambling Levy Fund Committee
“How can we work together to get more funding to support sports initiatives, starting with the grassroots to the elite leagues? You know there is this Corporate Social Responsibility that we see in some countries receiving special tax treatment. Why not think of adding a special line into the CSR tax regime when someone is investing in sports?” added Mouyelo.
Recently Mchezo, also Chop Gaming were named the second biggest taxpayers in Uganda by the Uganda Revenue Authority. Also, they are the owners of betPawa.
Marcus Kwikiriza, CEO Federation of Uganda Basketball Associations, who was among the panelists agreed with Mchezo’s director. “Imagine if governments, for the amount of pressure they are removing from governments in sports development, which should be a government role, they would give them a tax waiver-how many Mchezos would we have?” Betting Taxes Sports EAC
The legislators pledged to advocate more sports investments in their respective countries, and six months later they will meet up again to assess the progress achieved and the way forward.