Who is Bob Munro....?
Many have often wondered on who exactly Bob Munro is.
And few have an idea of his work in football and the general community
around the Mathare Slums. Many may also wonder why he is being single out as the
cause of problems facing Kenyan Football today. It is said that Bob Munro wields
so much influence in diplomatic, corporate and grassroot circles, which have
left KFF luminaries exposed. He is said to be so close to the FIFA top-brass
that few people in the world can boast of similar ties.
Well, a brief bio indicates that Bob Munro is the
Managing Director of XXCEL Africa Ltd. Since 1985 he has lived and worked
in Africa as a senior adviser on environmental policy, water resources
management and sustainable development for African governments, regional
development organizations and the United Nations.
He is the founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees
of the Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA), a self-help youth sports and
community development project started in 1987 in one of Africa’s largest and
poorest slums. Today over 14,000 youth on 1,200 teams take part in the
MYSA sports, slum cleanup, AIDS prevention, leadership training, jailed kids,
photography, music and other community development activities. Another 10,000
youth from eight countries participate in a similar sport and development
project initiated by MYSA in 1999 in the Kakuma refugee camp in northwest Kenya.
He is also the Chairman of Mathare United, one of Kenya’s top and most popular
football clubs, and is a Director and Vice Chairman of the Kenyan Premier League
Ltd.
MYSA and Mathare United won the 1992 UNEP Global 500
Award for environmental innovation (Rio de Janeiro), the 2001 CAF/African
Youth Development Award (Johannesburg), the 2003 Prince Claus Award for cultural
achievement (Amsterdam), the 2004 World Sports Academy/Laureus Sport for Good
Award (Lisbon) and the 2004 International Fair Play Award. Not to mention that
him and MYSA have been nominated for the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize for the
work currently being undertaken in Mathare Slums. In 1999 Bob was awarded the
Stromme Foundation “Help for Self-Help Prize” in Oslo.
While many will be celebrating his deportation as
ordered by Sports Minister Maina Kamanda, a dark cloud awaits the slum dwellers
of Mathare, who have come to regard him as one of their own, as his work
has directly touched 30,000 homes in the sprawling area. Munro, who has lived in
Kenya for over 20 years has equally adopted three Kenyan kids.
This is the first time ever that the Kenyan government
is deporting an individual over perceived international ties. His
perceived influence over other KPL clubs has been viewed by many as "opposition"
and thus the indication from the minister that they will equally be disbanded.
It might also be a first time that FIFA will take some of the harshest decisions
in Kenyan history.
Adopted from KENYAFOOTBALL.COM, Thursday, November 3, 2006
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Who is Bob Munro....?