A gambler’s hopes of escalating a Sh99 million payout dispute with betting firm Betika have been dashed after the Court of Appeal dismissed her attempt to challenge the company’s decision.
Claire Nyabayo, who had won a substantial payout from the betting site’s “magic numbers” game, was left disappointed as the court ruled that it had no jurisdiction to hear her appeal.
While dismissing the appeal, Justice Mumbi Ngugi ruled that the Court of Appeal has no authority to handle disputes involving betting, since the governing law (The Betting, Lotteries and Gaming Act) provides that the litigation process ends at the High Court.
Justice Ngugi said the Court of Appeal is prohibited from dealing with such appeals. The case stems from Nyabayo’s January 2022 win, where she claimed nearly Sh100 million after playing Betika’s online game.
However, the betting company rejected the payout citing a system error that led to an inflated prize, and referred to the terms and conditions which capped the maximum payout at Sh1 million.
The company argued that paying out the full amount would lead to unjust enrichment. Despite Nyabayo’s insistence that the system error was beyond her control and that she was unfairly denied her winnings the Betting Control and Licensing Board sided with Betika in July 2023. The High Court upheld the Board’s decision in September 2024, ruling that the company was only obligated to pay her Sh1 million as per the game’s rules.
Aggrieved, Nyabayo sought to appeal the High Court ruling at the Court of Appeal citing irregularities in the Board’s proceedings.
She claimed she had never been provided with a copy of the game’s terms and conditions which were crucial to the case. Her legal team argued that the Board’s failure to disclose these terms during the hearings amounted to an unfair process.
However, Justice Ngugi of the Court of Appeal rejected Nyabayo’s appeal, citing a provision in the Betting, Lotteries, and Gaming Act that prohibits appeals from the board’s decisions beyond the High Court.
The law states that once the High Court has ruled on such disputes, no further appeal can be made.
“The applicant recognises the limits placed on this court by the law,” Justice Ngugi stated.
