The Betting Control and Licensing Board has lifted the suspension on Sportpesa’s operation license under Milestone Games Ltd.
The board on Friday said, as a result, a meeting that had been scheduled for November 26 has been canceled.
“Pursuant to section 4(1)(b) of the Betting, Lotteries and Gaming Act, Cap.131 of the Laws of Kenya, the suspension of your bookmaker’s Off-The Course license for 2020/2021 FY has lapsed,” the board said.
It added, “Further, our letter of October 30 mentioned herein is hereby withdrawn….. the meeting that had been scheduled for November 26 as communicated vide our letter dated November 19 is hereby canceled”.
This comes barely a day after a judge quashed a decision banning the use of the Sportpesa brand.
Justice Pauline Nyamweya’s order in effect allowed Milestones games limited use of its Safaricom pay bill numbers together with Sportpesa domains.
The judge in a ruling dated November 16 further certified the case by the gaming company as urgent saying that there are likely effects of the decision being challenged in court.
Her decision arose out of an application by the gaming company challenging a decision by the Betting Control and Licensing Board made on October 30, 31 2020.
The board had stopped the Milestone games limited from using the trade name Sportpesa, the domains www.ke.sportpesa.com, www.sportpesa.co.ke, shortcodes 29050, 79079, and paybill numbers.
Consequently, Milestone games moved to court seeking orders to quash the decision of the board.
The court was told that the board in reaching its decision acted outside its powers.
The decision was made without the gaming company being given a chance to make any representation.
The judge directed the parties to file their replies to the suit papers and scheduled the case for hearing on January 25, 2021.