The Court of Appeal has dismissed an application by Paul Wanderi Ndung’u seeking to set aside a consent order in the ongoing dispute over the “Sportpesa” brand.
The ruling marks the latest development in a long-running legal battle involving Milestone Games Limited, the Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB), and Pevans East Africa Limited.
The dispute dates back to 2020, when Milestone challenged decisions by the BCLB that barred the company from using the Sportpesa trade name, associated domains, paybill numbers, and shortcodes.
The Board argued that the brand belonged to Pevans East Africa Limited and suspended Milestone’s bookmaker licence indefinitely. This prompted Milestone to seek judicial review to stop the Board from enforcing the decisions.
"On November 18, 2020, the High Court granted Milestone leave to apply for the orders of judicial review and directed the leave to operate as a stay of implementation of the impugned decisions of the Board," the ruling states.
Subsequently, the High Court granted Milestone temporary orders allowing it to continue using the Sportpesa name, paybills, and domains while the case proceeded.
The High Court also initiated contempt proceedings against BCLB officers for violating court orders.
By May 2022, Milestone and the Board recorded a High Court consent order settling aspects of the dispute. The adoption of this order was opposed by Wanderi, who claimed a 17 per cent shareholding in Pevans, arguing that the settlement affected his interests.
The High Court initially declined to adopt the order in September 2022, citing the need to confirm whether the Board had resolved the matter procedurally. Milestone then filed an application in the Court of Appeal.
Wanderi applied in December 2022 to join the appeal, claiming his stake in Pevans gave him a direct interest.
His application was dismissed on February 10, 2023, but the Court later reviewed this ruling in April 2025, finding his expulsion from Pevans unlawful and allowing him to be joined as an interested party.
Meanwhile, the appeal itself was withdrawn by consent through a court order dated February 12, 2024, effectively ending the litigation between Milestone and the Board regarding the Sportpesa brand.
Undeterred, Wanderi filed a fresh application on October 22, 2024, seeking to set aside a consent order he cited as dated 24th February 2023.
Milestone Games Limited opposed the application, noting that the joinder issue had already been resolved and that the consent order cited by Wanderi was not on the court record.
The company argued that consent orders are binding on the parties who agree to them and cannot be set aside by non-parties without evidence of fraud or illegality.
In its latest ruling, the Court of Appeal agreed. It ruled that the joinder issue could not be revisited and that the referenced consent order did not exist in the record before it.
"For the foregoing reasons, we find no merit in the interested party’s (Paul Wanderi) notice of motion dated 22nd October 2024 and the same is dismissed with costs to Milestone. It is so ordered," the bench ruled.
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