Ksh.20M Brand Kenya deal with rugby union axed

Tourism CS Najib Balala has ordered Brand Kenya to cancel the Ksh.20million contract with Kenya Rugby Union over internal wrangles and non-payment of dues.

This comes a day after head coach Innocent Simiyu stormed a sport tribunal hearing between Brand Kenya and the Kenya Sevens team.

He demanded that his players not be held answerable for the sponsorship protest they staged during the Paris Sevens.

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The demonstrations over unpaid allowances saw the Kenyan team blank out the ‘Make It Kenya’ logo on their jerseys using duct tape.

Brand Kenya announced its sponsorship deal with the national rugby team on May 24 this year.

It was expected to give the team the much-needed financial boost after the exit of Sport Pesa following a new law on government taxation of sports betting companies.

However, it later emerged that Brand Kenya had not paid the team any dues by the time they had already left for the Paris Sevens.

It took the intervention of the Government for the funds to be released.

I have been assured that the Sports Ministry through @PsSportsKenya will engage @OfficialKRU as to why the Union has failed to release payments to the National 7’s squad.

— Nzioka Waita (@NziokaWaita) June 9, 2018

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