Kibra MP Ken Okoth at a past event. He has laughed off the recent pulling out of betting firm SportPesa from sponsoring local teams in the country. [PHOTO/the-star.co.ke]
Kibra MP Ken Okoth has laughed off the recent pulling out of betting firm SportPesa from sponsoring local teams in the country.
In their pull-out, the firm complained that the 35 percent tax they were being charged by the government was too high and that it made their business tough in the country.
However, Okoth says that the firm is trying to blackmail Kenyans so as to evade tax.
He said the firm was using huge figures to sponsor European outfits and that the little they used on the local game were mere 'crumbs'.
"SportPesa uses gambling proceeds from Kenya to sponsor Everton. The crumbs they throw in local sponsorships for Kenyan teams is not even a fraction of what they spent on Hull City," he said.
"Maybe it is time for all betting in Kenya to go under a national lottery. Betting must be taxed, wapende wasipende. Or we ban it like shisha," he added.