Just a few days ago the management of a new casino in Uganda was proposing to take legal action against the Government. Casino Grande Uganda Limited was granted a licence by the Uganda Investment Authority in 2002 but the Finance Ministry has said that the Casino and Gaming Bill 2004 has yet to be enacted, and there is no law yet to regulate casinos.

The draft law is in its final stages and should soon be tabled before the Cabinet and Parliament. In the meantime Casino Grande must wait to open, even though Kampala Casino is operating as an “error,” and $2 million dollars of machine equipment is lying idle at the new casino.

A world away in Poland dealing with the formalities in the Finance Ministry has been classed as “a nightmare” by the Chamber of Commerce for the Operators and Producers of Entertaining Equipment (IGPOUR). The circulation of paperwork is reputed to take months, and the delays to cause loss of income to both the State and the operators.

The gaming operators say that by the end of the year there should be 50,000 slot machines but only 7,000 will be operating. They accuse the Finance Ministry of introducing the new favourable laws too slowly. Gambling revenues in Poland did rise by 5% in 2003 although income from bingo dropped by 21.4%.

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