Harare, (New Ziana) –The Lotteries and Gaming Board has been urged to continue strengthening its systems of compliance, monitoring, and enforcement in a manner that reflects national statutes and international best practices.
Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage, Kazembe Kazembe said this in a speech read by his Deputy, Chido Sanyatwe at the 4th Lotteries and Gaming Board Annual General Meeting in Harare on Friday.
He made the call at a time the board anticipates growth in licensed operations and consumer engagement with strategic priorities that include regulatory enhancement, responsible gaming promotion, and market adaptation.
In recent months, unlicensed operations have emerged, threatening the integrity of the gaming industry with last year, 24 illegal operators being arrested while 84 illegal gaming devices were recovered in Beitbridge and Southlea Park.
“As Government, we view gaming not merely as a commercial pursuit but as a regulated space that must uphold the highest standards of governance, fairness, and public trust. It is through the vigilance of the Board, in collaboration with operators and statutory stakeholders, that the industry can thrive responsibly, balancing growth with accountability, and innovation with compliance, upholding our cultural values and norms as a people. This calls for robust corporate governance frameworks that embed accountability, transparency, and ethical conduct at every level of the industry,” Kazembe said.
He emphasized the importance of the board’s effective coordination with statutory stakeholders, the Auditor General, the Corporate Governance Unit, the Financial Intelligence Unit, and the Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage, so that oversight is not fragmented but harmonized into a coherent regulatory ecosystem.
“Transparent reporting mechanisms must be entrenched to safeguard public confidence, ensuring that gaming revenues are properly accounted for, audited, and channelled towards national development priorities. In this way, governance oversight becomes not a bureaucratic exercise, but a strategic instrument of national integrity and economic stewardship,” he said.
Kazembe added that in view of the emerging illegal operations in the gaming industry, the country’s enforcement machinery will ensure that sanity prevails and compliance is strengthened to deal with this situation.
“Illegal gambling undermines the integrity of the industry, deprives the state of revenue, and exposes citizens to exploitation. The government will intensify collaboration with law enforcement agencies, the Financial Intelligence Unit, and the Lotteries and Gaming Board to identify and dismantle illegal operations, strengthen anti-money laundering measures within the sector, and enhance surveillance and compliance technologies to detect irregularities in real time. Operators are reminded that compliance is not optional, it is a legal and moral obligation, and should place consumer welfare at the centre of their business models,” he said.
Lotteries and Gaming Board chairperson Eugenia Chidhakwa said they always ensure that the board’s regulatory framework is conducive to the industry’s development, while maintaining high standards of compliance and player protection.
“The board’s regulatory oversight is aimed at assisting the management to execute their critical role in maintaining the integrity of the sector, which is vital for public trust and confidence,” she said.
New Ziana
