**GROWING IMPACT OF SPORTS BETTING ON KENYA:THE ROLE OF MOBILE MONEY , FOOTBALL AND FAMILY INCOME**

sport betting is becoming very Popular in Africa, especially among young people.In Kenya,many young youths bets on football matches because they believe they can make money from it.To my understanding I believe mobile money has made betting easier because they can deposit money and place bet through their phones without going to bet shops.

According to the star kenya ,an article was published on may 26th 2026, concerning mobile money services which has played a major role in sports betting in Kenya such as the M-PESA which helps Kenyans to be able to send and receive their winnings through their phones making it convenient for people living in both cities and rural areas.

For example,someone who is a fan of Manchester United who believes that if he or she bet on the club is going to win in a match between Arsenal.He can use his phone to deposit money while he wait for the result.However,if he put 5000 kenyans hilling hoping that his club would win ,and eventually if they win he will be happy and receive his wins while if the club loses he put in more money to try again hopefully they will win against Arsenal and also recover his loss.This can lead to financial problems.

Another thing I noticed is that young youths wants to make quick money so they believe that it can be achieved in betting.This bring big problems on students who use their school money ment for food , stationeries to bet on football eventually if the bet fails he won't have money for those essentials.This also applied to youth who are not students ,that will end up borrowing money to bet believing that it will be their big win .

Sport betting can bring serious effects on families, especially families with small incomes,resulting to fight, quarreling with each other ,lack of trust,neglecting of family responsibilities etc.A family who have small income decided to use the money to bet so they can have more money, if they losses the bet they will start having issues blaming one another .this can result in them not been able to afford the basic necessity for their children and house hold . sometimes children are made to suffer because the money ment for their needs has been spent on betting.

Mobile money is not bad .It helps individuals to be able to pay and receive money easily without the need of going to the bank or betting shops.The problems is that the convenience can make people especially the young ones spend money without even knowing the amount they've been spending on betting .
I believe that football should be for entrainment where people watch their favourite teams plays and not have the feeling of paying to make money.beting companies and the government should bring awareness to the youths concerning the dangers of gambling,and educate them on how to spend their money wisely.

In conclusion, sport betting in Kenya shows how technology and mobile money can change the attitude of people.Although, betting looks like an easy way to make money , there's no guarantee of winning money.In my opinion parents and young youths should not depend on betting as a source of income.
They should focus more on their education and family responsibilities or learning of skills to get u real and genuine way of making money.