Kisumu parents have called upon the administration of Governor Anyang' Nyong'o to tame the rising cases of gambling in the region.
The parents are worried that their children are being addicted to gambling owing to the easlily available gambling booths.
According to them, the vice has affected learning in schools and ruined the morals of their children who get exposed to such vices at an early stage of life.
“There some kind of machines called lotto machines that our kids are becoming very fond of and it is very addictive. Whenever we send them to the centers, they have a tendency of passing by this gambling places and throw in some coins,” Barbra Cynthia a parent in Kondele said.
Lotto machines are gambling machines that one plays with coins of either Sh10 or Sh20 with an aim of winning.
“We give our children money so that when coming back from school they can board matatus but they use the money to play on these slot machines,”Joanna Ondiek stated.
Addiction is not the only problem with the machines as some of the parents also claimed that the gambling booths had pictures that portray sexual material.
“I have been to these sites before and these are not sites to be visited by persons under the age of 18 years. These slot machines have drawings of women half naked. The environment is also surrounded by idle youth drinking and smoking,” stated Tilly Omil.
The parents now want the sites either closed or restricted to only adults and out the reach of their children.
“We will move to court to block the existence of these machines in our county. It has more adverse effects on our children than any benefits. We don’t want our children ruined at an early age and we would like our Governor to intervene and flush out this selfish individuals willing to even swindle young children of their money,” David Nyong'o said.
Wilfred Otieno, an owner of one of the business in the area despised the claims adding that they never allow the children to play but only watch from a distance.
"We don't allow children to play although they like watching from a distance and still it is not our duty to chase them from town centres but for their parents to control them," Said Otieno.