ADVOKS GLOBAL · KENYA
Betting, Lotteries and Gaming Act
40. Exemption of certain kinds of lotteries conducted for charitable, sporting or other purposes
Edition: 2025-06-20 · Repealed
40. Exemption of certain kinds of lotteries conducted for charitable, sporting or other purposes
(1)A lottery may be promoted and conducted on behalf of a society, being a society established and conducted wholly or mainly for one or more of the following purposes—(b)participation in or support of athletic sports or games or cultural activities;(c)purposes which, not being described in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b), are neither purposes of private gain nor purposes of a commercial undertaking,and is so promoted for raising money to be applied for purposes of the society.(2)The following conditions shall be observed in connection with the promotion and conduct of the lottery—(a)the promoter of the lottery shall be a member of the society authorized in writing by the governing body of the society to act as the promoter;(b)no remuneration shall be paid in respect of the lottery to the promoter or to any person employed by the promoter in connection with the lottery who carries on a betting business or is otherwise engaged by way of business in the organization of betting;(c)no prize shall exceed five thousand shillings in amount or value, and no ticket or chance shall be sold at a price exceeding five shillings;(d)the whole proceeds, after deducting sums lawfully appropriated on account of expenses or for the provision of prizes, shall be applied to purposes of the society, being purposes described in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of subsection (1);(e)the amount of the proceeds appropriated on account of expenses shall not exceed the expenses actually incurred, or fifteen per centum of the whole proceeds, whichever is the less, and the amount of the proceeds appropriated for the provision of prizes shall not exceed one-half of the whole proceeds;(f)the price of each ticket or chance shall be the same, and the price of a ticket shall be stated on the ticket;(g)the total value of the tickets or chances sold shall not exceed fifty thousand shillings; and if, on any day on which tickets or chances in the lottery are on sale, tickets or chances are on sale in another lottery promoted and conducted on behalf of the society under this section, the total value of the tickets or chances sold in those lotteries taken together shall not exceed fifty thousand shillings; and for the purposes of this paragraph tickets or chances in a lottery shall be deemed to be on sale on each day between the dates on which those tickets or chances are first and last sold, whether or not any such ticket or chance is sold on that day;(h)no written notice or advertisement of the lottery shall be exhibited, published or distributed except—(i)a notice or advertisement exhibited on the premises of the society, or published or distributed exclusively to members of the society;(ii)such notice or advertisement as may be contained in the tickets, if any;(i)every ticket and every notice or advertisement of the lottery lawfully exhibited, distributed or published shall specify the name of the society, the name and address of the promoter and the date on which the draw, determination or event by or by reference to which the prize winners are ascertained will take place;(j)no ticket shall be sent through the post to a person not being a member of the society;(k)no person shall be admitted to participate in the lottery in respect of a ticket or chance except after payment to the promoter of the whole price of the ticket or chance, and no money received by the promoter for or on account of a ticket or chance shall in any circumstances be returned; and(l)no payment on account of expenses or prizes shall be made out of moneys of the society other than proceeds of the lottery.(3)If any condition required by subsection (2) is contravened, the promoter of the lottery and any other person who is party to the contravention shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding five thousand shillings or imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both:Provided that—(i)it shall be a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section only by reason of his being the promoter to prove that the contravention occurred without his consent or connivance and that he exercised all due diligence to prevent it;(ii)it shall be a defence for a person charged with an offence in respect of an appropriation or payment made in contravention of paragraph (e) or paragraph (l) of subsection (2) to prove that—(a)the proceeds of the lottery fell short of the sum reasonably estimated; and(b)the appropriation or payment was made in respect of expenses actually incurred, or in order to fulfil an unconditional undertaking as to prizes given in connection with the sale of the relevant tickets or chances; and(c)the total amount appropriated or paid in respect of expenses and prizes did not exceed the amounts which could lawfully be appropriated out of the proceeds of the lottery under subsection (2)(e) if the proceeds had amounted to the sum reasonably estimated.(4)In this section—(a)in construing subsection (1)(c), a purpose for which a society is established or conducted which is calculated to benefit the society as a whole shall not be held to be a purpose of private gain by reason only that action in its fulfilment would result in benefit to any person as an individual; and(b)in construing subsection (2)(d), where a payment falls to be made by way of hiring, maintenance or other charge in respect of equipment for holding the lottery and the amount of that charge falls to be determined wholly or partly by reference to the extent to which that or some other equipment is used for the purpose of that lottery, then that payment shall be held to be an application of the proceeds for purposes of private gain; and accordingly the reference to any such charge falling to be so determined; and(c)"society" includes a club, institution, organization or association of persons, by whatever name called, and any separate branch or section of that club, institution, organization or association.