Sportpesa, once Kenya’s second-most valuable brand and a leader in the betting industry, lost operational control after its owner, Pevans East Africa Limited, became embroiled in a tax dispute with the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA). The company’s licence was suspended in July 2019, but the shutdown did not follow standard procedures. Instead, Pevans’ entire operational framework—its brand identity, customer records, staff, and even its M-Pesa paybill numbers—was handed over to a new entity, Milestone Games Limited, without any financial settlement. Safaricom, the country’s dominant telecom operator, played a central role in this transition.
The handover depended on two key M-Pesa paybill numbers—955100 and 955700—which handled the bulk of Sportpesa’s betting transactions. According to leaked documents, these paybills, along with related short codes and USSD access, were activated for Milestone Games on October 30, 2020. The speed of the transfer was unusual: Safaricom processed the request within a single day, despite industry practice typically requiring two weeks for such changes.
The move raises concerns about whether the transfer complied with legal requirements. Kenyan law reportedly requires that shifting paybills and short codes for a gaming operator requires advance approval from both the Communications Authority of Kenya and the then gaming regulator (BCLB). The dossier claims these clearances were never secured before Safaricom activated the numbers for Milestone. Furthermore, a court preservation order was active at the time, freezing Pevans’ assets-including those paybills-until December 5, 2020. Safaricom allegedly ignored these restrictions.
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Safaricom’s Conflicts of Interest in Licence Dispute
A contrasting example highlights the inconsistency in enforcement. When Milestone later sought to transfer related short codes from Airtel Kenya, the operator refused, citing legal requirements. This suggests Safaricom’s compliance, or lack thereof, was selective.
The transfer also created a direct conflict of interest for Safaricom. At the time, Pevans/Sportpesa was engaged in litigation against the BCLB, Safaricom, and other parties over its licence dispute. Safaricom had filed submissions in that case – meaning, if accurate, Safaricom was simultaneously a litigant against Sportpesa’s interests and the entity facilitating Milestone’s takeover of Sportpesa’s infrastructure.
Supporting the allegations is a letter from Wilson Karungaru, the sole director of Milestone Games at the time. In his affidavit, Karungaru stated he requested the paybill transfer on October 29, 2020, with activation following the next day. The letter also expresses unease about funds being “disbursed to strange entities… unknown to me.” Karungaru later resigned, citing a lack of oversight into the company’s operations.
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Fake Licence Revealed: Bollywood Casino’s Hidden Role
The irregularities persisted after the initial transfer. Milestone operated and advertised as a licensed BCLB operator through 2021 and 2022 under Licence No. 000205. However, a BCLB letter to mobile network operators dated July 31, 2022 revealed that this licence had actually been issued to a different company, Hardwick Limited, trading as Bollywood Casino. This meant Safaricom continued to host Milestone’s betting and jackpot services on its network for an extended period while Milestone held no valid gaming licence.
The dossier argues that Safaricom “Knew” because it had every reason to know the individuals behind Milestone were the same people who ran Pevans. Key figures, including Ronald Karauri and Francis Kiarie, served as directors of Pevans while also holding undisclosed majority ownership stakes in Milestone through a holding structure, Selinium Limited. Additionally, a Pevans company secretary-who also acted as Milestone’s legal officer-had previously filed multiple lawsuits against Safaricom on behalf of Sportpesa-linked entities.
