This archive report was first published on 16 July 2019.
On July 10, 2019, the Betting Control and Licensing Board wrote to Safaricom Limited requesting the suspension of paybill numbers and shortcodes for several companies, including betPawa, without prior notification or involvement.
betPawa claims that despite lodging an application for renewal of its licence and responding to the board's inquiries in sufficient time, the board awaited the licence's expiry on June 30, 2019, before communicating the rejection of its application.
Through lawyer Emmanuel Wetang'ula, betPawa filed an application under a certificate of urgency at the High Court in Nairobi, seeking orders to be allowed to continue operations without interference.
On July 16, 2019, the court issued a conservatory order temporarily suspending the board's letter and allowing betPawa to continue using its paybill numbers and shortcodes without any interference, pending the hearing and determination of the application.
