This archive report was first published on 15 July 2019.
On July 14, SportPesa announced the winners of its mega jackpot bonus, but the celebration was short-lived due to the government's recent directive to shut down betting pay bill numbers.
The directive, which affected 27 betting firms, including SportPesa, resulted in the closure of pay bill numbers and shortcodes until their licenses are renewed.
As a result, millions of Kenyans were unable to deposit cash, making it difficult for those who had placed bets to receive their winnings.
However, those who were lucky enough to win the mega jackpot bonus had placed their bets days or hours before the pay bill numbers were suspended.
According to SportPesa, the winning jackpot combination was 1,2,X,1,2,X,1,1,2,X,2,2,2,X,X,X,1, and the winners received Sh. 74,823 and Sh18, 447 respectively.
The current mega jackpot stands at Sh239, 962, 943 million, and has not been won since Cosmas Korir won Sh208, 733,619 in 2018.
It was the fourth time the Mega Jackpot had been won, following three lucky winners who shared 115 million in May 2017 and Gordon Ogada, an orphan, who won the biggest jackpot in SportPesa history by taking home Sh230, 742,881 on February 7, 2018.
