Deep fall of Ekabet haunts Simon Gicharu’s empire

By Dave Mwangi
it’s not easy for billionaires too, A betting firm run by the family of Mt Kenya University (MKU) owner
Simon Gicharu is on the brink of collapse.
With its collapse Ekabet will sink with millions of shillings
belonging to Kenyan punters.
Following frenzy to employ staff from SportPesa that was pushed out of
business by monied Kikuyu elite driven by jealousy and greed, things
are not looking up at all for the.
Ekabet was one of the few companies that benefited from SporrPesa’s
predicaments, taking with it sizeable chunk customers loyal to the
Romanian run betting giant that had tentacles spread to Asia, Europe
and Africa.
In a bid to get the best brains to run the business, an oligarchy that
only a few can afford to invest in, the Gicharu run family recruited
far and wide with a marketing frenzy only comparable to SportPesa.
All was lost midstream as they struggled to pay certain wins and
eventually, some of the promises, wins and even CSR events that had to
be canceled. In typical Gicharu style, a fact well demonstrated by
corporate bodies he has been allowed to run through the Mt Kenya Mafia
networks that he sits deep in the middle Ekabet struggled to cut a
niche through shortcuts.

“I think the enterprise in sinking and it is sinking very fast. The
have already brought down their website and it is no wonder. They
could not manage to run the business well despite getting employees
and senior management staff from SportPesa. On the other hand, they
have been struggling to meet Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) obligations
and other delayed mandatory payments. This one is sinking and with
millions of unpaid bets to punters countrywide.
“Wait for coronavirus to go. We will be reading a story about ekabet.
We are seeing a company that could not withstand the markets ups and
downs,” says an man who was sent away from the company last week.
On the other hand, ekabet has been struggling against Betika and
Betway who have enjoyed the fruits after the exit of the SportPesa,
Betin and a host of others that were inspired by money laundering
cartels – reason why the government came down hard on the betting
companies.
However, others in the business indicate that the recent happenings in
the company was inspired by the fact that operational costs outweighed
profits it was making, forcing Gicharu and his family to walk away.