Some of the people police officers arrested after raiding two gambling dens in Thika's Kiganjo estate, December 13, 2017. [Photo/the-star.co.ke]
Police in Thika raided gambling dens in Kiganjo estate on Wednesday and arrested the operators of the joints and several patrons who were inside during the raid.About ten machines were seized from the two joints that were raided, most of which were owned by people from other counties.The operation, led by Thika Town MP Patrick Wainaina, caught the gamblers red-handed conducting illegally gaming services even to minors.“We will not allow people from other places to come and destroy the lives of our young people. None of these operators hail from Thika and it is very unfortunate that they have wooed children and women into this addiction which is unacceptable,” Wainaina said on Wednesday.He added that the move was necessitated by public outcry adding that the business had brought with it a lot of other negative elements such as petty thefts, idleness, drug-related problems among other social problems.Wainaina vowed to wipe out all those gambling businesses that operated betting machines illegally across the constituency. Kiganjo residents praised the MP for the raid and lamented how young children had gotten hooked into the betting menace. “It has now gotten serious as even women are betting with the little money we leave for food. There are so many cases of domestic disputes that are emanating from the addiction to betting and its high time we put this to an end,” said Juma Maanzo, a bodaboda operator in Kiganjo.