Is online gambling legal in Kenya?

Operators set the minimum age at 18. Licensed operators must check your identity and age before you deposit, offer deposit and loss limits and play-time reminders, and connect to a national self-exclusion register. A 5% excise duty is charged on deposits and a 5% withholding tax on withdrawals, and since 1 July 2026 a 20% withholding tax applies to lottery and prize-competition pay-outs.

1. 1Gambling Control Act, 2025 (No. 14 of 2025), Kenya Gazette Supplement No. 141 (Acts No. 14), 12 Aug 2025 (Kenya Law)
2. 2Gambling Control (Conduct of Gambling Operations) Regulations, 2026, Legal Notice No. 112, Kenya Gazette Supplement No. 163 (Legislative Supplement No. 92), 29 June 2026 (Kenya Law)

Gambling with crypto: Restricted.

The minimum age on record for gambling in Kenya is 18+. The minimum age for online gambling is 18. The Gambling Control Act, 2025 bars children and requires proof of age of majority for every online player, and Kenyan law sets that age at eighteen. The advertising and prize-competition rules also use eighteen.

Two taxes touch your money: a 5% excise duty is charged on any amount deposited for betting or gambling, and a 5% withholding tax is deducted from withdrawals, with no minimum threshold. The 5% applies to the whole withdrawal, not only the profit. Since 1 July 2026 the Finance Act, 2026 also applies a 20% withholding tax to winnings, defined as a pay-out from a lottery or prize competition by a licensed operator. On that wording betting and casino pay-outs are outside the 20%. The Act does not say whether a lottery win that you then withdraw is taxed at both 20% and 5%.

187 companies on the GRA's 2025/26 list (old-Act licences, validity varied to 24 Sept 2026) in Kenya, as of 5 Nov 2026.

Always verify a casino holds a valid Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) licence before depositing. Check the official register before signing up.

The official register of licensed sitesGambling Regulatory Authority (GRA)'s website

Prominent operators in Kenya

If a site isn't on the regulator's licensee register, ask the regulator before you play: an unlisted site is usually not licensed here (a register can lag behind a new licence). An unlicensed site is outside the regulator's supervision, so you cannot complain to the regulator about it.

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  Check for a Licence from the Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA)

  Only bet on sites licensed by the GRA, which must show its licence number in its advertising and display its licence on its online platform. The GRA publishes a Licensed operators page (the 2025/26 list: 187 numbered companies, with trading names and domains). It is the list of licences issued under the repealed Act, whose validity the GRA varied to 24 September 2026, and no list for the new regime was found, so a name missing from it is a reason to ask, not proof.

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  Check How You Pay

  Licensed operators may fund accounts by debit card, bank transfer, mobile money or another method the Authority approves, and payment providers must be approved. Anonymous gambling and virtual assets for gambling or withdrawal are prohibited unless the Authority approves them. Operators such as Odibets advertise an M-PESA Paybill (operator statement).

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  Look for Responsible Gambling Tools and Helpline Information

  Licensed operators must offer deposit limits, loss and session limits, reality checks and an easy self-exclusion option linked to the national register, and every advert must carry a toll-free helpline number or website. No gambling counselling line is named by the law or the GRA: the GRA's toll-free number, 0800-723-770, is a customer line, and NACADA's free 1192 line is a drug and substance abuse helpline, not a gambling line.

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  Ensure Taxes are Deducted Correctly

  A licensed operator must deduct a 5% withholding tax from each withdrawal, remit it within five working days and give you a certificate of the deduction. The 5% excise duty on deposits is the operator's own tax.

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  Expect Identity and Age Checks Before You Deposit

  A licensee must verify identity, location and age before it activates your account and accepts a deposit, and must verify a winner's identity before paying out. A site that lets you deposit and play with no checks is not following the Conduct Regulations.

Official changes that affect players, newest first, each with the document it comes from. A change marked not yet in our report is confirmed in the official text but not yet worked into our research report and the answers on this page.

Our daily watch reads the official publishers we follow for Kenya. A change is listed once it has been checked against the official document, by a person or, where marked, by our automated check. Dates are the official dates, not the day we found the change. Where no researcher has written the summary yet, it is our automated reading of the official document, with every figure checked against its words; the official words are under each change.

1. 1

   1. Contact the Licensed Operator Directly

   Raise the complaint with the operator's customer care centre, which every licensee must set up and which must try to resolve complaints before they reach the regulator. A matter still unresolved after 72 hours, or one you ask in writing to escalate, must be referred to the Gambling Regulatory Authority. Keep a record of all messages.

2. 2

   2. Complain to the Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA)

   The Authority must receive and decide complaints from the public about gambling and inquires into complaints against licensees. Its complaints page describes a formal complaint form delivered to its offices or emailed, in wording that dates from the former Board, so check the current contact details before you send anything.

   GRA complaints page
3. 3

   3. Appeal to the Gambling Appeals Tribunal

   The Tribunal hears appeals against the Authority's decisions and complaints arising out of the outcome of a gambling transaction. Its regulations were gazetted on 29 June 2026. The time limits differ by route and the texts do not reconcile them: the Tribunal's regulations give 30 days from the Authority's decision to file a memorandum of appeal, the Licensing Regulations give 14 days to appeal a Board decision to the Tribunal, and the Act gives 21 days to appeal a licence refusal. A dispute over online gambling can go to the Tribunal within 14 days of the dispute. The filing fee is KES 10,000, and the Tribunal will not hear a matter until the Authority's own review has been used. A Tribunal decision can be appealed to the High Court within 14 days.

• Myth

  My winnings are only taxed at 5% when I cash out.
  Reality

  This is partly true, but the 5% tax applies to the entire withdrawal amount, not just your profit. A 5% excise duty is also charged on the amount deposited, a tax the law places on the operator. Since 1 July 2026 a separate 20% withholding tax also applies to winnings from a lottery or prize competition.

• Myth

  It's safe to play on any international betting site using a VPN.
  Reality

  Only licensed operators are supervised by the Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA). We found no provision that makes it an offence for a player to bet with an unlicensed operator, but the law targets the operators and promoters behind unlicensed sites. On such a site you have no GRA-supervised dispute route, no national self-exclusion register and no assurance your identity and age were checked.