By BRIAN WASUNA, bwasuna@ke.nationmedia.com
In Summary
Gaming lottery Pambazuka has opened a legal battle
against the industry regulator, seeking to quash President Uhuru
Kenyatta’s appointment of the agency’s top managers.
shareholding of Bradley.
Nice and Lovely founder Paul Kinuthia is also
listed as a director of Bradley. Mr Kinuthia, who sold his cosmetics
firm—InterConsumer Products—to France’s L’Oréal in 2013 for Sh1.5
billion, has 150 shares in Bradley, giving him a 1.5 per cent stake in
the Pambazuka lottery.
Shareholders include Extreme Sports founder Hussein Mohammed and former Nairobi Mayor Dick Wathika (deceased).
Pambazuka claims that government records show that
Mr Wambia is a civil servant working for the gaming department of the
Interior Ministry, and not as a member of the BCLB. It has also
challenged the appointment of Liti Wambua as a member of the BCLB.
“Bradley later learnt that Mr Wambia is a civil
servant appointed by the Public Service Commission to work in the gaming
department of the Interior Ministry and is not a member of the BCLB and
as such his act of writing letters on the BCLB letterhead is against
the provisions of the Gaming Act and constitutes abuse of office,” Mr
Mohammed argues in an affidavit filed in court.
The gaming lottery also argues that Mr Kenyatta’s
appointment of Francis Sang as a non-executive chairman of the BCLB was
illegal as the post does not exist under the State Corporations Act.
Pambazuka adds that only the Interior Minister can make appointments to the BCLB and not the President.
“Liti Wambua was appointed by the President under
the State Corporations Act as a non-executive chairman of the BCLB. Such
a position does not exist under the Gaming Act and even if it existed a
non-executive chairman has no authority to author letters on behalf of
the BCLB. His appointment is illegal because only the minister has
powers to appoint the chairman of the board,” Mr Mohammed adds.
The BCLB is yet to respond to the suit. Pambazuka’s
owners claim that the BCLB is trying to sabotage a project in which
they have injected more than Sh3.7 billion.
“Bradley is contracted to its software developer to
the tune of Sh3 billion, being the software development right to use
fee. Since the issuance of the original licence in 2010, Bradley has
invested an estimated Sh700 million in the lottery and this excludes the
brains behind the product,” Mr Mohammed holds.
Bradley says the Spanish developer that built
Pambazuka’s software is to be paid Sh3 billion, and that it has spent
more than Sh700 million in other aspects related to the lottery,
including licences, salaries and premises.
The firm has spent Sh18 million to lease its premises for five years and six months, Mr Mohammed adds.
The Bradley CEO says Pambazuka has been in the
pipeline since 2010, and that it has always paid the annual Sh500,000
licence fee while developing the lottery.
The firm first moved to court in July to stop the BCLB from interfering with the Pambazuka launch.
Pambazuka has also asked the court to permanently
stop Dr Sang’s appointment and declare that Mr Wambua and Mr Wambia have
no authority to issue orders on behalf of the BCLB.
Bradley obtained a court order barring the BCLB
from stopping Pambazuka’s launch, and has since successfully unveiled
the lottery to the public.
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