Fresh fight for Sportpesa and trademark battle

Fight for the control of the troubled betting firm, Sportpesa has escalated after businessman Paul Wanderi Ndung’u filed fresh suit at the High Court seeking temporary orders to stop his former partners turned business rivals from using the popular gaming brand.

The businessman had earlier moved to the Registrar of Trademarks seeking to reverse the transfer of two trademarks from Pevans East Africa to UK-based SportPesa Global Holdings Limited (SPGHL), each valued at £100,000 (Sh17.3 million). Pevans East Africa (PEAL) was the pioneer of sports betting in Kenya.

He wants the trademarks returned to Pevans, describing their transfer to SPGHL—and eventually to Milestone as irregular, illegal, and part of suspected tax evasion and accounting fraud.

In his application, Paul claims the SportPesa trademark was fraudulently transferred and that the process involved tax evasion and forgery.

He is asking the court to bar Milestone Games Limited from using the trademark until his case is heard and determined. According to documents filed in court, the parties appeared before an Assistant Registrar of trademarks on October 9, 2025 but the registrar declined to hear the matter and referred it to the High Court.

Paul further wants a conservatory order stopping Milestone from withdrawing, transferring, or dealing with any money in its bank accounts or mobile-money paybill numbers operated under the SportPesa brand.

“It is clear that the petitioner’s constitutional rights have already been violated. It is necessary for the court to intervene and prevent further violations,” Paul says.

He is also seeking orders stopping Milestone Games, its directors, or agents from presenting themselves to the public, the Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) formerly Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB), or any State agency as the licensed operator or authorised user of the SportPesa brand.

Paul argues these funds are proceeds of an unlawful and deceptive operation.

In his latest High Court application, Paul also wants the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) compelled to disclose all corporate income tax and VAT paid by SPGHL as a non-resident taxpayer on income or royalties earned from the SportPesa trademark since September 15, 2020.

He argues that his constitutional right to property in PEAL, as well as his right to due process before the Registrar of Trademarks, has been “severely infringed,” and only the court can halt further violations.

Paul faults the registrar’s decision to refer the dispute back to the High Court, calling it a “backdoor appeal” and a reversal of an earlier High Court ruling that directed the matter be handled by the Registrar of Trademarks.

He says his rights continue to be violated as Milestone Gaming trades on what he calls an illegal trademark assignment.

He adds that his investment in PEAL is at risk as the firm has been crippled, making court intervention urgent.

The trademark dispute pits former partners Paul and Asenath Wacera, who together own 38 per cent of Pevans against the firm’s chief executive, Ronald Karauri, who supported the trademark transfer.

Registry filings show that the application to transfer the SportPesa trademark from Pevans to SPGHL was based on a deed of assignment dated September 1.

However, this deed is missing from the records, and another deed dated June 2 is attached instead. This implies the trademark may have been jointly owned by Pevans and SPGHL between June 2 and September 15.

The June 2 deed was signed by Karauri on behalf of Pevans and by Kalina Karadzhova, a Bulgarian national residing in the Isle of Man, on behalf of SPGHL, where she is a director.

Paul argues that the Certificate of Assignment was backdated to June 2, 2020, making the process fraudulent. He notes that no goodwill was paid and no advertisement was made in the KIPI Industrial Property Journal, despite legal requirements.

He further claims that SPGHL’s board where he served as director and chair never met to appoint Robert Kenneth Wanyoike Macharia as their agent in the trademark assignment, nor did it approve the acquisition of the trademarks. He says this denied him and Wachera their rightful property.