Dick Wathika: How The Tussle For Sportpesa Billions Stopped Ex-mayor’s Heart

In summary

-Dick Wathika is reported to be the architect behind Sportpesa. Being well connected enabled him to plan on how two Bulgarian would incept and run Sportpesa.

-However, when Sportpesa began churning out billions, some of the board members began sidelining him. He reportedly developed health complications, and any mention of ‘Sportpesa’ became a trigger for high blood pressure during his hospitalisation.

***

Becoming a councillor at 19 years old

Wathika was born in 1973 and in 1992, he was elected a councillor. This achievement was a signal for a luminous future for him. In 2004, he was elected as Nairobi City mayor, becoming Kenya’s youngest mayor at the time. He went on to retain the seat in the subsequent election.

In 2007, he vied for the Makadara parliamentary seat and won it. However, this was annuled only three years later after Lady Justice Kalpana Rawal ruled that the elections were marred with irregularities. In the by-elections, Wathika lost to Mike Sonko. In 2013, Wathika unsuccessfully vied for the Mukurwe-ini parliamentary seat.

SportPesa Establishment in Kenya

Unknown to many, Wathika played an extremely critical role in setting up the giant betting firm in Kenya.

He met Guerassim Nikolov and Gene Grand, two distantly related Bulgarians who were in the betting and gambling business who asked him to help them set up a gambling business in Kenya. Wathika was open to the idea and at this stage began seeking Kenyan investors to put their money in the business.

He approached his friend, billionaire Paul Wanderi Ndung’u who invested a whooping Ksh 100 million into SportPesa. The investment would propel marketing and seeping into all the regions in the country.

Dick Wathika was at the forefront of setting up casinos and lotteries around Nairobi for the two Bulgarians.

This initial groundwork was indeed hefty as on more than one occasion, he had to take personal initiative to repay debts and cover financial loopholes that were threatening the business they were working so hard to set up.

However, when the institution launched in 2014 began raking in hundreds of millions, the Bulgarians slowly began sidelining him.

At this stage, Ronald Karauri, an engineer turned pilot, made a Ksh 30,000,000 investment into the business making him one of the shareholders and later on would be elected the company’s Chief Executive Officer taking over Wathika’s seat.

Sportpesa Troubles 

Wathika began experiencing a challenging relationship with the other directors in 2015. The giant firm had been making mind blowing revenue figures with a gambling boom that masked the nation.

Coupled with tax evasion, subtle threats, and money laundering allegations, the betting giant was soon on the taxman’s radar and upon further investigation would be flagged down. The stress levels especially on the leadership was heavy and took a toll on the late Dick Wathika.

Mention of ‘Sportpesa’ became a trigger

He was hospitalised in October 2015, where it was noted that the mention of ‘Sportpesa’ would trigger worse readings on the monitor. He was reportedly suffering from high blood pressure at the time.

On December 14th 2015, Wathika went to Finix Casino where a meeting with other board members including the Bulgarians was supposed to iron out the ‘Sportpesa’ creases.’

After hours of deliberations, Wathika is said to have collapsed, sadly passing on while on the way to hospital. The post-mortem results showed an artery had ruptured claiming his life.

Succession

Wathika’s 21% stake at the giant betting company (alongside the tussles) was passed to his widow, Asenath Wachera.