Kenyan lawmakers are seeking to impose tougher laws on gambling in the country, a practice that has gone viral over the past few years.

The parliamentarians seek to establish an authority to licence and regulate the activities of betting, lotteries and gaming firms.

The proposed legislation sponsored by MP Jakoyo Midiwo seeks to introduce marketing and advertising restrictions on Kenyan sports betting services. The act would ban the advertisement of competitions in which prizes are offered, forcing bettors to rely on phone applications and betting firms’ websites to place bets. This would prevent firms such as SportPesa, Betin, Betway among others, from advertising ahead of key local and international football matches.

Those who contravene the proposed laws will face fines ranging from $10,000 – 40,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months.

The betting craze has hit Kenya hard, other times leading to negative vices as suicide. There have been a number of suicide cases reported in local media after gamblers lost their bets.