Telecommunications company Safaricom has agreed to re-enter Kenyan rugby union as a sponsor of the Safari Sevens tournament.
In April, Safaricom withdrew its sponsorship of the Kenya Rugby Union amid corruption and fraud allegations relating to the national governing body. The company had previously served as the main sponsor of the Safari Sevens, regarded as one of the leading tournaments in Africa for the seven-a-side format of the sport.
Fellow sponsors Kenya Airways and Bamburi resumed talks with the KRU last month and Safaricom has now renewed ties by backing the 16-team national team competition, which will be staged at the Safaricom Stadium, Kasarani from October 2-4. However, it will not serve as title sponsor.
“We have reviewed the steps taken by KRU to address the issues we raised when we withdrew our sponsorship in April, and are confident in the progress we are seeing,” Sylvia Mulinge, director for consumer business at Safaricom, said. “Our sponsorship of this event in October does not mean we will relax our vigilance or enable continued inaction from KRU. We expect the same levels of transparency and accountability that we expect from all our partners.”