Pata potea gambling business is now legal in the city, Nairobi police boss has said.
Chances are that if you report to the police that you have been conned on the streets, the perpetrators will not be brought to book due to their new found immunity.
This comes in the wake of an influx of people playing the pata potea game, especially in downtown.
Nairobi Central Divison OCPD Robinson Thuku said on Tuesday the numerous pata potea men on the streets were legally covered, and could not be arrested.
Thuku explained that the ‘conmen’ possessed authenticated licences issued by City Hall under the Betting and Gaming Control provision.
“Whenever we arrest these people they are quick to produce their licences, which they have been issued by the county government. This makes it difficult for us to get them off the streets,” said Thuku.
The police boss listed the lisensed areas of operation as Landhies Road, Khoja round about, OTC bus stage and Wakulima Market among others.
The OCPD took issue with the fact that justice now seems elusive for the thousands that fall prey to the tricksters, saying that the county government should stop issuing licences to ‘crooks’.
conning the public
“We should not give people licences so that they can steal from the public,” he said.
Thuku, however, acknowledged that some of the city residents intentionally engaged in the pata potea game to win money.
He cited an incident where a woman last week lost Sh30,000 given to her by the husband for school fees. The couple reported the matter at the Central Police Station and it is still under investigation.
The gamblers tools of trade include three cards, a makeshift table made from a carton box and three or four onlookers.
They target crowded areas such as bus stages where there are many gullible passers-by.
One drops a card and asks you to hand it back to him. Woe unto you if you do because he then convinces you to participate in the game and goes ahead to let you win the first three.
After a while, you are convinced that you should put in ‘big’ money for bigger returns. However that is where your losing streak starts.
