On Friday, February 17, President William Ruto through a Gazette Notice indicated that the country would have a government-sponsored national lottery.
A 27-member task force led by steel magnate Narendra Raval would establish the national lottery.
While this will be the first-ever national lottery in Kenya, the concept is widely used in many countries worldwide.
Notable countries that have national lottery include; the United States of America (US), United Kingdom (UK), India, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Spain.
The reason for having a national lottery is to help the government raise billions in shillings without increasing taxes.
According to the Gazette Notice, the proceedings from the lottery will contribute towards good causes and ameliorate the plight of persons in need.
While the government will raise billions through the program, select Kenyans will also earn millions from the government’s project.
The Raval-led task force will first set the minimum amount Kenyans can use to participate in the lottery.
Members of the public will then be allowed to purchase tickets with their preferred numbers.
The national lottery will then be subdivided into two where Kenyans will be allowed to participate in mini and mega-draws.
Depending on the task force’s recommendations, the mini draw can be set daily with a weekly mega draw. Alternatively, the mini draw can be on a weekly basis and the mega draw monthly.
In the mini-draw, the government will choose a guaranteed number of people to win shared revenue. For instance, Ksh20 million to be shared amongst 100 lucky winners.
The mega draw is where Kenyans will earn a fortune as one lucky person will win the whole set amount.
If you have the lucky number, you will go home with all the cash that is in play that week or month.
In the instance where there is no lucky winner during the mega draw, the amount that was to be won will be added to the next mega draw.
If the weekly draw is Ksh10 million and the mega draw was Ksh80 million, in the case no one wins, the next mega draw will be set at Ksh90 million.
In October 2018, an American citizen became an instant dollar billionaire after winning Ksh194 billion in the national lottery.
