Zambia Gaming Association Urges Responsible Gambling Amid Rise in Underage Betting
Darius Sinkamba, the Secretary General of the Zambia Gaming Association, has called for responsible gambling, warning that reckless betting leads to devastating outcomes, including loss of life and an alarming rise in underage gambling across the country.
Speaking about the critical balance between gaming as an industry and public safety, Sinkamba stressed that gambling can provide a livelihood and create jobs, citing individuals who built flats from their earnings as retailers. He also emphasized that failing to plan properly can bring severe personal and financial ruin.
To illustrate the dangers of reckless gambling, Sinkamba described an incident in which individuals improperly accessed bank vault funds to gamble, resulting in the loss of their employment and severe accounting problems for the financial institution.
“Is that to the operators in this case, those who want to go and gamble from different gambling houses, gamble responsibly. Why I say gamble responsibly is that the effect, if you don’t plan properly when you go to gamble, it’s a very devastating effect. We are loss of life,” he emphasized.
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Sinkamba also expressed concern about children gambling, attributing the issue to lapses in parental guidance rather than operator misconduct or government inaction. He explained that when parents give smartphones to their children and expose their PINs, children can gain access to bank accounts, which enables them to gamble online.
Sinkamba noted: “Another issue is what I spoke about earlier, parental guidance. You give a gadget, a phone, to your child, a son, a daughter. You also expose the son to the pinpoint. The son or the daughter is able to access your bank account, goes into the Absa account, or goes into Stanbic. Access those funds, plays on the data. Sure, you will come and blame the Zambia Gaming Association, or you blame the government to say the government should ban this. It’s all about parental guidance.”
Ultimately, Sinkamba emphasized that practicing responsible gambling relies on individual planning and vigilant parental oversight to prevent personal tragedy while preserving the industry’s positive economic benefits.
