Kenya’s High Court has given the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Kenya (GRAK) the green light to start collecting licensing fees from betting companies, casinos, and other gaming operators, even though a court case challenging those very fees is still ongoing.
Back on August 7, 2026, the court had put a stop to the implementation of new fees under the Gambling Control (Licensing) Regulations, 2026. That order effectively froze the licensing process.
This week, the judge reversed course and allowed the regulator to move forward with collecting the fees while the main case continues, as per a report by Business Daily.
Why the Regulator Pushed Back
GRAK told the court that the freeze had created a real problem. With fee collection suspended, the authority couldn’t process new license applications, since payment of the prescribed fees is a required step before a license can be issued.
According to the regulator, 246 license applications were stuck in limbo because of this.
The judge agreed that the fees couldn’t be separated from the rest of the licensing process. He also pointed out a bigger legal gap: these fees exist only in schedules attached to the new regulations, not in the Gaming Control Act, 2025 itself.
Since the old Betting, Lotteries and Gaming Act has been repealed, there was no backup framework for charging licensing fees if the new regulations stayed frozen.
The judge said it wouldn’t serve the public interest to leave the gambling industry unregulated while the underlying dispute plays out in court.
To ease concerns, GRAK also promised to refund any fees collected if the court eventually rules that the regulations, or the fees themselves, are unlawful.
Who’s Fighting This and Why?
The case was brought by petitioners Thomas Buckley Opar Owuor and Ken Brance against the Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, Musalia Mudavadi, and GRAK.
They argue the sharp increase in licensing fees for bookmakers, lotteries, casinos, bingo operators, totalizators, and pool betting firms is unlawful. They’re also questioning whether the Cabinet Secretary even had the authority to create these regulations in the first place.
The petitioners opposed letting fee collection resume, arguing that the fee hikes are the heart of the entire case. They warned that many operators simply won’t be able to afford the new fees, which could push some out of the market entirely, force others to take on heavy debt, or lead to job losses across the sector.
They also argued that a refund later wouldn’t undo the damage done now, since businesses could fold or shrink in the meantime.
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They disputed GRAK’s claim that licensing had completely stalled, saying the authority kept accepting applications and collecting charges even after the Gaming Control Act took effect in August 2025, right up until the new regulations kicked in on June 29, 2026.
The Government’s Position
Officials have defended the regulations as necessary to actually put the Gaming Control Act into practice. The Act, which came into force in August 2025, set up a new system for licensing and supervising gambling businesses in Kenya.
GRAK says the regulations fill in essential details, covering license categories, application steps, financial requirements, technical standards, and renewal rules.
This legal fight has been going back and forth since July 2026, when the court first suspended the regulations entirely. After the Attorney General asked for a review, the court allowed most of the regulations to stand but kept the increased fees and capital requirements on hold.
GRAK then returned to court arguing that this partial freeze was causing operational chaos, since licensing couldn’t function without the fee component.
The judge ultimately sided with GRAK, noting that both sides agreed on one key point: the Gaming Control Act has rules for transitioning gambling taxes but no clear plan for transitioning the licensing system itself.
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Without the disputed regulations, neither the new law nor the old repealed one offers a working way to issue licenses.
The court confirmed and expanded on an earlier ex parte order from August 13, 2026, granting additional requests from GRAK’s application. Costs of the application will be decided based on the outcome of the main case, which is set to be mentioned in court again on September 21, 2026.
