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Hopes that giant betting firm SportPesa was planning a comeback to the business were thwarted on Friday after staff received redundancy letters.
A day earlier, the firm had informed its over 400 staff members that there would be a meeting and the reports had been interpreted by Kenyans as a hint for the company’s comeback after a fight with the government.
SportPesa exited the Kenyan market after a prolonged fight with the government over taxes.
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SportPesa’s exit has shaken the sports industry to the core with most teams left bleeding to their bone marrow and unable to even show up for matches due to lack of funds.
Khusoko understands the redundancy letters are in line with the Kenyan laws and after the staff was issued with termination letters on October 2. The redundancy letters explain that the employees will be paid two months’ salaries and 15 day’s pay for every year in line with the law.
However, SportPesa CEO Ronald Karauri informed his former employees that the firm was still in talks with the government as it hopes to strike a deal that would see it bounce back to the Kenyan market.
Since its exit, the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) almost stopped as there was no money to fund its activities.
The major beneficiaries, Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards, were the most affected as they lost sponsorship running into millions of shillings. The two teams have resorted to fundraisers to raise money to run their activities.
