Mainstory: sweepstake: Inside Remera Lotto where risk and luck reign

There is one growing fashionable place in Kigali where you must go if you are looking for your lost friend. It is a small, well decorated classy house in Remera known as Lotto. People have fallen deeply in love with Lotto. At this place, many come and play all sorts of games day and night. Lotto is the hottest subject in Remera of late. Teenagers, students, football fans and other important personalities converge here. They huddle in small groups and watch horse races and bet for football matches. The Africa Cup of Nations and the Premier League are the latest baits. The place has become a favorite over the months though it has been on for the past months; the big numbers of people are now religiously taking part. It is not only the wretched of earth that go there but also very important people in society visit the place. The risks, suspense, hope, and shock of surprises entertain you when you visit the place. It seems to have caught everyone’s attention. City dwellers get up each morning for no other reasons other than to collect ‘quick’ money from Lotto. They leisurely stroll Remera Streets towards Lotto place in excitement. Because they laugh and walk with their heads high in the air, they make it appear as if there is no cost or pain in getting the money. That is what I always had in mind before I visited Lotto last Friday. The place where majority want things ‘quick and free’, you can hardly get a seat at Lotto. Standing there and watching football matches or horse races, you may think the other friend of yours who is pestering to join the betting spree is showing you unnecessary familiarity and should only mind his business. As you still ponder whether to bet or not, a friend is pronounced winner. Now the excitement has gripped you and you want to join the game. But that is not all. It looks as if the very survivals of these Lotto goers depend on the betting. ‘Customers’ spend day and night betting and in turn expect gifts or money. They call it ‘making’ quick money. Some call it gambling. And many have fallen in love with it. Public perception of Lotto As you stroll on Remera Streets and you try to eavesdrop from the public, you hear how Lotto is described as the latest successful thing in town. Lotto ‘customers’ spend most of their valuable time ‘making’ money. They huddle in small groups, talking at the top of their voices and walking with their heads high. They anticipate wealth but spend most of the time praying. Undoubtedly, the games provide fun and excitement which is why it continues to draw more and more people. In the morning, you wake up to hilarious stories being narrated by teenagers with lots of praise, obviously with lots of exaggeration thrown in. Teenagers at schools have also been hooked. Some borrow money and stake. Others reportedly use school fees to make profits. Dreams come true for those who pursue them. Lucky ones see their dreams become reality. At Lotto, they are locked in a life and death struggle with a lot of expectation. At times, it becomes double tragedy because the game is not only costly but also necessitates the need to have more money to stake every passing day. Implicit benefits One person whose identity could not be readily available says he is so happy God brought Lotto to Rwanda. He says how else would he have been able to eat and pay school fees without a job. Sometimes luck comes your side and sometimes not. Not at least to this young boy who is in his early 20s. The story is told of how he staked his School fees and lost it. Later, Lotto awarded him Frw20,000 after he had staked only Frw5,000. At Lotto, you may never make a mistake of trying to advise that Lotto is fleecing their unwary customers. They instead hate and call you an amateur or stupid. When you ask the customers, they are quick to say the lottery is very lucrative and has made millionaires more than any other game. They also claim that not even a bank or any other institution will give a person free money for investment but Lotto can. “I started going to Lotto a fortnight ago. I have so far made a fortunate of Frw50, 000,” one John Mugisha, a resident of Kabeza said. Mugisha says the first thing he does in the morning is to go for betting exercises. He goes back in the evening to see if he managed to fish something. Paul Assimwe, a senior six student says he borrows money from friends before he goes out to generate profits through betting at Lotto. “I haven’t made serious losses. When big football teams are playing, I put money on the most popular teams because smaller teams lose daily,” Assimwe said wistfully at Remera Lotto. Gambling Charles Musoni, a resident of Kimironko and a regular Lotto customer says what is happening in Remera is gambling. The game is basically driven by covetousness, laziness, and recklessness. Things here are done on the basis of chance. Just take a circulated risk for monetary or personal gain. Interested ‘customers’ only need to stake anything so long as they don’t go below Frw 500 to buy the ticket and thereafter stand to win as many millions as possible. Members of Lotto marketing team want customers to take the game as a “treasure hunt” and buy more cards to increase their chances of winning. A number of people have already walked away with prizes since the game began. “While we cannot deny its popularity, one of the most obvious reasons for its appeal is gambling or free profits associated with it,” an official says. One cannot deny that betting offers are simply irresistible. Playing casino games allows a person to make huge or quick money. With games like soccer or horse, goat and dog racing, many people can rake up substantial gambling revenue in an instant. It is not only the players who benefit from betting revenue but the lottery managers as well. The Lotto is willing to spend a certain percentage of their money in giving out sign-up bonuses to keep people coming. There you will find affordable but profitable gambling offers so that your gambling efforts will not be only fun and worthwhile but also income generating. When you meet two or three young people in groups walking with their heads high around Giporoso near Remera Stadium, they are probably heading for Lotto. Today, if you meet a friend in Remera and begs Frw100,000 from you promising that he would pay it back in the evening with small interests; chances are that he is going for Lotto. But there is also another interesting angle, when you refuse to bet, your friends curse and lebel you slow in life. I for one, I am slow by nature. And, I warn my friends to spend slowly at Lotto. There is a sad story of another student who staked his Frw 60,000 which was part of his school fees. People say the boy-never mind his identity but went home that day looking crestfallen. “We even provide employment to the jobless and we encourage many people to join us,” Lotto’s sales executive manager based in Remera at Vaticano building said on Friday. He also said that Lotto started August last year and it is opening up branches in the country side. The highest cash lotto won since its inception was Frw 500,000. “I don’t remember the names of this man but he staked Frw 400,000 and earned a profit of Frw500,000,” he said. Other Lotto branches are located in Nyamirambo and Gikondo. He says today’s Lotto is different from the past games because, at Vaticano, you are assured of your money in case you have won. He also dismissed reports that many youth are wasting time by attending Lotto games. “You don’t need to come and spend a day here. People just come, bet and go a way,” the official explained adding that later, they come back to pick their cash. He also said that the lotto ticket expires after 30 days and there is no need for one to hang around. Ends