This archive report was first published on 30 August 2019.
On August 30, 2019, the High Court delivered a verdict dismissing a case filed by Pevans East Africa Limited, operating as SportPesa, challenging the Betting Control and Licensing Board's (BCLB) decision to cancel its operational license.
The court ruled that it cannot re-write a contract willfully entered by the parties nor can it quash the letter to open the door to the petitioner to operate without a license.
Justice John Mativo noted that SportPesa failed to demonstrate that the government violated its constitutional rights, adding that there would be no basis for the court to award damages.
Mativo further stated that the claim for damages for alleged loss of business is legally frail, and damages must be pleaded and proven.
The betting firm accused the state of refusal to renew its license and wanted the court to stop a directive by the government to Safaricom, Airtel, and Telkom to suspend its M-Pesa pay bills and SMS shortcodes.
However, the court ruled that the action of the respondents is not unreasonable, irrational, and high-handed but also clearly amounts to deliberate abuse of office and state power to achieve ulterior ends.
