Universities and other institutions of higher learning in Uganda are being harmed by a glut of sports betting addiction that is forcing thousands of learners out of their studies.
University World University reports that the worst hit is the oldest and most prestigious university in the country, Makerere University, which has about 35,000 students.
However, reports from the 12 other public, 40 private universities and hundreds of smaller higher education institutions in Uganda show the problem of student sports gambling is spreading across Ugandan higher education.
Makerere was ranked as the 17th-best university in Africa by the recent Webometrics Ranking of World Universities, and so attracts middle- and upper-class local and international students whose parents and guardians can afford to pay its comparatively high tuition fees of (Ugandan shillings) UGX2 million (about US$525) per semester.
But these families cannot afford to pay fees twice if students waste them on sports gambling.
Makerere University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Barnabas Nawangwe, said in a 12 March 2024 speech on campus: “It is unfortunate that we are losing many students due to sports betting. We are losing at least 1,000 students annually who fail to complete their courses and the main excuse we are getting is failure to pay school fees after losing them in sports betting.”
Lubega Nsamba, the president of the Makerere University Students’ Guild, told University World News that the proliferation of betting platforms, which can be accessed by students on smartphones, tablets and laptops, has enticed many into online sports gambling.
He said that research carried out by Uganda’s Ministry of Education and Sports indicated that 30% of Ugandan university students are now gambling online, mostly sports betting, with a smaller number playing online poker.
“True, a number of students are dropping out of the university because of betting. I blame the lotteries and gaming board for not protecting students from engaging in such schemes,” said Nsamba.
The Executive Secretary of the Uganda National Students Association (UNSA), Fred Toskin Cherukut, told University World News: “Many Makerere students are lured into sports betting by fellow students who lost money in gambling and turned into conmen who stay at the campus pretending that they are also still students.”
And the General Secretary of the Uganda National Teachers’ Union (UNATU), Filbert Baguma, told University World News: “Some students at Makerere are enticed to get involved in sports betting thinking they would win big. The high rate of corruption whereby people get rich in a short time, makes students also become eager to amass wealth quickly. Students in Uganda gamble because they want to become rich very fast.”
Another factor that leads to many students getting involved in gambling is the consistent advertisements from the more than 20 online betting companies that operate in the country.
“There are many betting centres. Every day, FM radio and TV advertise the benefits of getting involved in sports betting and how easy it is to win. Many students take the adverts for granted and end up participating in gambling,” said Pastor Solomon Male, a vocal and high profile Ugandan evangelist.
A study by the Uganda-based non-profit organisation the Economic Policy Research Centre also concluded that a significant number of students at Makerere, and other Ugandan youths in general, gamble, often with limited resources, which leads them to use tuition fees for gambling.
Dr Charles Ogwel, the director of Uganda’s UMCAT School of Journalism and Mass Communication, agreed, telling University World News: “Our students are crazy with sports betting. It is their topic [of discussion] every day. Each year, we lose between 15% and 20% of our students.”
The registrar of the Kampala-based International Institute of Business and Media Studies, Ismail Nkonge, has also noticed the impact of gambling on students. “Sports betting is destroying our institutions of learning. We lose 10% of our students annually due to sports betting,” he told University World News.
Suicides
The worst impact is that some dropouts commit suicide because they fear facing their parents after losing tuition fees in sports betting.
“It is unfortunate that students from Makerere and other universities commit suicide after spending money in sports betting. All should be done to stop such tragedies,” Luke Owoyesigyire, the deputy police spokesman for Metropolitan Kampala, told University World News.
According to police records, among these sport betting suicide victims were a fourth-year BSc medical radiology student at Makerere, who committed suicide in 2019 at his hall of residence. Other suicide victims, according to Uganda police, include a 25-year-old student pursuing a diploma in civil engineering at the Uganda Technical College Bushenyi, who killed himself in 2022 after losing money meant for fees in sports betting, and also a student from Ndejje University, who died in similar circumstances.
Police said they left notes indicating that they took their lives after losing fees in betting.
A security risk
Ismail Nkonge, who is also the programme manager of an NGO, the Media Responsibility and Accountability Initiative, told University World News that a study it staged recently on Makerere University said students who lose money in betting are a security risk to the university.
“They become frustrated and try to cause chaos on campus. They instigate strikes so that universities close down and all students lose. Most of the strikes at Makerere University are started by dropouts,” said Nkonge.
Robinah Nassozi, the assistant accountant at Makerere University, told University World News that dropouts harm the institution’s financial planning because the amount of fees collected falls short of projections.
An official at Makerere University, told University World News that dropouts harm the institution’s financial planning because the amount of fees collected falls short of projections, adding: Our budget is much affected by the big number of dropouts. Shortages of fees from about 1,000 students leave a big gap in our budget.”
William Muwata, a former Makerere social sciences student who stopped his studies, said he regrets wasting money on betting: “I now stay with a colleague in one of the halls at campus and I work as a gatekeeper at a shopping arcade in Kampala city. I fear going back to my parents,” he said.
He called on the government to help affected students and stop the betting exploiting students.
What is being done to solve the problem?
Kampala police’s Owoyesigyire said he hoped regulators would intervene: “We have enough work on our hands. Issues to do with sports betting are supposed to be dealt with by regulatory bodies.”
He said that the government had passed a law in 2017 – the Lotteries and Gaming (Betting) Regulations, which banned under-25s from online sports betting, but the law is disregarded by the students and betting companies.
He advised parents to be vigilant and check that fees are paid to the universities, so they can intervene if necessary. UNATU’s Baguma added: “There is a need to educate and sensitise the students – especially those joining universities – about the dangers in sports betting.”
UNSA’s Cherukut said his organisation had decided to start advising affected students. “We are looking for all the affected students with the intention of counselling them. We are also going to carry out sensitisation sessions in all the universities to tell students not to waste their money on sports betting.”
UMCAT’s Ogwel said there is a need to instil religious values in the students and always warn them about the evils related to sports betting.
“Religious activities should be carried out in all universities and one of the areas to be emphasised is discouraging them from taking drugs and getting involved in gambling,” he said.
The Makerere Guild’s Nsamba said: “I implore the university administration and government to facilitate an awareness campaign to educate students about the risks of gambling.”
The Lotteries and Gambling Regulatory Board Uganda said in a statement that it will work with security agencies to ensure that regulations regarding sports betting are enforced to save students from losing their fees
