By Dickson Jere
A young Zambian university student opened a betting account with Bwanabet. He then deposited ZMW3000 and ZMW5000 on the account. He betted but lost all the monies.
He then deposited another ZMW5000 and voila! He won just over ZMW 517,000. However, he could not be paid immediately for unknown reasons. So, he asked his uncle to follow up the payment as he was busy with school.
The uncle made several follow-ups. But the betting company accused the uncle of fraud – that he was claiming the winning money when he did not have an account with them. The student wrote to the company to explain why he asked the uncle to follow up on the winning ticket because he was busy with school.
Instead, the betting company terminated the contract and closed the account of the student and refused to pay the ZMW 517,000 saying there was suspected fraud on the account.
The student sued in the Lusaka High Court claiming his winning money plus other damages. He then raised a point of law for the Judge to determine the matter summarily.
The Judge determined thus;
“Betting service providers, should not only focus on attracting members of the public to sign up and deposit their money, but also ensure that the resultant customers are treated fairly at all times, including when there is a question about their winnings,” the Judge said.
The Court noted that it was wrong for the betting company to cancel the winnings and close down the account of the winner before hearing his side of the story as justice demands that he ought to be heard.
“That the Defendants decision-making process should also favour the primary issue of why the online platform did not allow the Plaintiff to withdraw his earnings, even before the secondary issue of involvement of his uncle arose,” he said.
“That the Defendant decision to void the Plaintiff winnings and terminate the contract is hereby set aside,” the Judge ruled, adding that the student must be given opportunity to be heard.
The Court ordered the Bwanabet to sort out the issue with the student. The Court also awarded him legal costs to be paid by Bwanabet.
Case citation – Wigan Changa v Silverspring Entertainment Limited (Bwana Bet) -2025/HPC/0881 and Ruling delivered last week on 5th November, 2025.
Lecture Notes;
1. Online betting and gaming has been difficult to regulate in Zambia due to inadequacy of laws. Most laws that the deal with betting are outdated and do not apply to most online betting that came on the scene in recent years while the laws lagged behind. However, Cabinet has now approved in principle to have the laws dealing with gambling and online betting revised to meet the latest developments in the sector. This case clearly underscores the need for protection for customers.