By Kevin Barasa
Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of science and technology students and staff use about Sh60 million annually on gambling activities, a research report has revealed.
According to Gambling Effects among vulnerable groups in Public Universities (GEPU) research conducted at the university between February and July this year, the students and staff spend over Sh1.2 million on gambling activities such as online betting on football matches, aviator, wheel spinning, cards and playing pool each week.
The research findings reveal that over 70% of both students and staff are engaged in gambling activities with 27.5 % of the students sampled being categorised to have fallen into high risk level of gambling while 41.6% (students) and 4.8%(staff) categorised as moderate risk by the Canadian Problem Gambling Severity index tool.
The study which was sponsored by the Bristol University Hub for gambling harms research sampled a total of 385 students and 21 staff members through snowball and purposive sampling respectively and utilised focused group discussions to gather information from student leadership and student religious groups at the institution.
Speaking during the release of the findings, the university vice chancellor Prof Emily Akuno termed the findings as accurate but intolerable adding that while the findings have painted a grim picture at the institution it provides an opportunity for them to put things in order and upscale lessons learnt to other institutions of higher learning in the country as well.
“When I first read the report, I immediately understood why there are long queues at registrar’s offices of students asking for more time to pay their school fees, I understood why we have a rise in cases of students missing classes or having problems with their accommodations," Prof Akuno said.
This is the point where you feel that “the earth should stop spinning and you get out”. Its’ unacceptable yet as management together with external entities we have to work together to stem the vice” Prof Akuno added.
She said the university through its governing council will consider changing its fee payment policy to deter gambling after it emerged from the report that the students mainly use funds from the Higher Education Loans Board meant for fees to engage in gambling activities where rampant loss of money has been reported.
“From the report it is clear that the students gamble using HELB loans or pocket money from parents, some even steal the money or sell their belongings to gamble while our staff take loans to engage in the vice” the vice chancellor remarked
According to the findings released, on average, the students and staff win bets amounting to Sh3.5 million each week but also lose bets amounting to Sh3.7 million each week indicating an average loss of Sh200,000 over the same period.
The findings indicate that male students (69%) engaged in betting more than their female counterparts (30%) with male staff (95%) compared to female staff (5%) engaging in gambling activities with the hope of making more money to support their lifestyles.
Students and staff who profess Christian faith were found to be more prone to gambling (61%) compared to their Muslim counterparts (9.5%) while the remaining 28% professed no religious attachments.
Second year students undertaking arts and humanity courses (77%) were found to be the highest gamblers compared to students undertaking science based or other courses according to the research report.
The study Principal Investigator Gregory Juma pointed out that the study found out that gambling at the institution not only led to rampant loss of money but also poor academic performance and reduction in work productivity among students and staff who engaged in gambling.
Juma who is a PhD student at the institution added that they recorded cases of strained relationships among students and psychological problems where both students (14%) and staff (57%) engaged in gambling had suicidal thoughts.
The team of researchers behind the study who include Prof Joseph Bosire (quantitative), Prof Makori Omoke (qualitative), Prof Pamela Raburu and Dr. Ruth Otieno observed that although gambling is legal in Kenya, stronger policies are required to regulate the industry which currently has over 120 companies running the show.
The research findings proposed upscaling of the research to other public universities in the country with the aim of unearthing harmful effects of gambling at institutions of higher learning.
JOOUST University is also looking at the possibility of reaching out to betting companies to engage in Corporate Social Responsibility activities at the institutions of higher learning in the country for the benefit of both students and staff.