Behind 1xBet’s growing footprint in Kenya’s betting and sporting industry lies a far more troubling fact that a senior politician allied to Kenya Kwanza is protecting the betting giant from scrutiny.
1xBet expansion and its access to lucrative sports sponsorships and high-profile partnerships that the company enjoys is because of the protection of a powerful senator closely allied to President William Ruto.
1xBet has used its close allies to monopolize the market backed by political power and Kenya’s multibillion shilling betting industry.
1xBet is no longer operating quietly in the background. Its name is increasingly appearing on football jerseys, sporting events and international competitions, including the Billie Jean King Cup, while in Kenya the company has politically secured major sporting partnerships.
1Xbet has used its close political connection to muscle out other betting firms and created a monopoly that is killing the entire sports dimension. This has even been exposed globally, 1xbet dirty dealings are nothing to be ignored.
Investigations by Bellingcat examined 1xBet’s streaming operations and identified thousands of amateur sporting events being offered through the betting platform, including events staged in obscure venues across several countries. The findings raised uncomfortable questions about the company's business model and the type of sporting activity being turned into betting markets.
Now, as 1xBet pushes deeper into Kenya, the focus is shifting from the bookmaker itself to the people helping it operate with confidence.
Lemme explain something, in the illegal gambling model, 1xBet use triangulation and separation. 1Xbet, operate a business in one place but they incorporate it in another, and money from many multiple places. They operate a couple of banks across that run these shoddy staged amateur sporting events.
The illegal gambling companies aren’t focused upon making money from the direct audience of the clubs or from the football association’s footprint in Croatia. What they are making money from is the audience the football matches are broadcast to globally. They want to communicate what the brand is and because it’s associated with international soccer people think it must be trustworthy. The whole point here is to recruit you through sports. That’s the cheapest way to get you. Unregulated gambling companies want a blended customer – they don’t just want you for sports betting, they want you for everything- Ismail Vali, Gaming Compliance International, President told Bellingcat.
Anyone else can easily notice that 1xBet is deeply involved involuntary and forced ad clicks on most of the sites they engage. You have no freedom to manouvering the internet without being forcefuly redirected to click on 1xBet site.
Why does 1xBet, a betting firm facing questions about its operations appear to have such powerful political connections?
These are not ordinary questions about a betting company seeking customers. They are questions about money, influence, political protection and accountability.
President Ruto signed the Gambling Control Bill into law in August 2025, creating the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Kenya and giving the regulator stronger powers over licensing, compliance and the social impact of gambling.
Yet while the government publicly talks about protecting Kenyans from the harmful effects of gambling, 1xBet continues to build its commercial footprint, including through sponsorships and partnerships in sport.
The central question is therefore no longer simply what 1xBet is doing in Kenya, but who stands behind it when questions are asked.
If a powerful political figure is shielding the company, Kenyans deserve to know the nature of that relationship, what interests are involved that is being used to frustrate regulatory or parliamentary scrutiny.
This is where the 1xBet story gets bigger than betting. It becomes a story about money, political influence and who really has the power to protect a controversial betting giant.