The High Court in Nairobi has rejected Claire Nyabayo’s appeal seeking a Ksh 99 million payout from Betika’s “Magic Numbers” game, instead upholding the Betting Control & Licensing Board’s (BCLB) ruling that limited her payout to Ksh1 million. Justice A. Mabeya issued the ruling on October 10, 2024, affirming the BCLB’s July 31, 2023 decision.
Nyabayo argued that the board wrongly capped her winnings at Ksh1 million, despite claiming winnings of Ksh 99,976,365 from a January 2022 game. She contended the terms Betika cited to justify the cap were applied retroactively and that her rights were infringed when Betika froze her account.
Betika countered that its terms capped payouts for the game at Ksh1 million, and a system error had caused Nyabayo’s winnings to be abnormally high. Citing a technical report, Betika claimed that a malfunction in the game’s multiplier system had inflated the payout. The BCLB sided with Betika, awarding Nyabayo the maximum Ksh1 million while confirming her account had been frozen unjustly.
Justice Mabeya’s ruling emphasized the issue of unjust enrichment, noting that while Nyabayo’s right to fair compensation was valid, she could not benefit from a faulty system’s payout.
