Uganda Auditor General flags governance gaps at gambling regulator

Uganda’s Auditor General has raised concerns over the National Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board, citing weaknesses in game-approval rules, IT audit capacity, revenue performance and monitoring systems.

Uganda’s National Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board has come under audit scrutiny after the Auditor General raised several concerns about the regulator’s internal controls and operational readiness. The Office of the Auditor General lists the NLGRB Report of the Auditor General 2024 for the financial year 2023/24 among its official agency audit reports, placing the findings within Uganda’s public accountability framework.

The concerns are significant because the NLGRB is responsible for supervising and regulating lotteries, gaming, betting and casinos in Uganda. The Lotteries and Gaming Act gives the Board powers to license operators, approve gaming devices and equipment, approve games made available to the public and set standards for gaming and betting software. Weak or incomplete approval rules therefore create a direct regulatory risk for the sector.

One of the key issues cited in the audit is the absence of clear game-approval rules. Without detailed procedures, the regulator may face difficulties assessing new betting products, casino games, online games and machine-based products in a consistent way. This is especially important as Uganda’s market becomes more digital and as operators introduce new products faster than traditional regulatory processes can respond.

The Auditor General also pointed to weak IT audit capacity. This is a critical issue for a gambling regulator because modern oversight increasingly depends on digital systems, transaction monitoring, machine registers, e-licensing tools and real-time access to operator data. The NLGRB itself already presents e-licensing and a machines register as key public-facing regulatory portals, showing how central technology has become to its supervisory model.

Revenue performance was another concern. The audit cited a steep shortfall in non-tax revenue, raising questions about collection efficiency, forecasting and enforcement. The issue comes at a time when Uganda is placing stronger emphasis on domestic revenue mobilisation and when the Ministry of Finance has continued to allocate public funding to the regulator, including Shs18.76bn for FY2024/25 and Shs17.390bn for FY2025/26.

The absence of a monitoring and evaluation framework also weakens the regulator’s ability to measure whether its interventions are working. For a sector exposed to illegal machines, underage gambling, money-laundering risks and consumer harm, monitoring and evaluation is not only an administrative requirement. It is a core tool for assessing enforcement results, responsible gaming campaigns, licensing outcomes and revenue protection.

The findings come as Uganda is already tightening gambling oversight through enforcement operations, responsible gaming campaigns and tax reforms. The regulator’s website highlights ongoing actions such as confiscation of illegal gaming machines, public sensitisation and stakeholder engagement, showing that operational activity is ongoing even as the audit points to internal gaps that need to be closed.

For Uganda’s gambling sector, the audit is a warning that regulation must become more systematic, data-driven and measurable. If the NLGRB strengthens game-approval procedures, builds IT audit expertise, improves revenue controls and introduces a proper monitoring framework, the sector could benefit from more predictable oversight. If those gaps remain unresolved, however, the regulator may struggle to keep pace with a market that is becoming more digital, more complex and more exposed to illegal operators.