The Malawi Gaming Board has warned gaming machines operators to ensure that they are properly licensed to avoid having their machines destroyed.

The warning was made by Ofwa Alide who is the board’s Director of Legal Affairs and Company Secretary during the destruction of unlicensed gaming machines confiscated in Mzuzu.

“We are destroying these machines because the owners installed them without any license from us as required by the law,” Alide said.

She said the machines were installed in entertainment places in the city and were confiscated in August last year during a joint operation between the police and the board.

Alide said two Tanzanian nationals were arrested who revealed that the owner of the machines was a man named Moses from Tanzania as well but was not in the country by then.

Superintendent Solomon Gomezgani Mchawi, In charge Prosecutions Registry at National Police Headquarters in Lilongwe said they applied to Mzuzu Magistrate Court to have the machines destroyed because the accused never availed themselves for court proceedings after they were released on bail.

“According to the Gaming Act, the person who brought the machine has a case to answer just as the owners of the places where these machines were installed, Mchawi said.

Roughly the eleven machines are valued at K6.5million.