Bob Munro during the Urban Refugees Rights Based and Inclusive tournament at Mathare Youth Sports Association Headquarters along Kangundo Road on April 05, 2023.
In 2007, Bob Munro faced deportation from Kenya. The push for the Canadian’s deportation had been orchestrated by some unscrupulous Kenyan football officials whom he rubbed the wrong way with his incessant, facts-laden criticism of the management of the Kenyan game.
The Canadian High Commissioner to Nairobi had met several times with Kenya’s immigration authorities leading to Munro eventually being granted a clean bill of health and his status in Kenya confirmed as legal, much to the chagrin of the recalcitrant officials.
“The deportation threat is finally over and I am now free to travel again. But what a sad saga and all because a few renegade KFF (Kenya Football Federation) and relegated club officials refused to respect the KFF rules and (world football governing body) FIFA statutes and their own previous agreements,” Munro later said.
Ironically, last month, some 17 years after the deportation threats, President William Ruto decorated Munro with the prestigious Elder of the Burning Spear (EBS) award for his “remarkable contribution” to sports and community development on Jamhuri Day.
Simply known as “Bob” to friends and acquaintances, born September 1, 1942 and raised in St Catharines, Ontario, Canada, Robert Donald Munro died on Sunday at his Nairobi home.
His wife Ingrid confirmed that Munro had rested at the family residence in Westlands after falling ill.
“My darling husband Bob, as he is affectionately referred to in Kenyan football circles, has been in and out of hospital for the last six months due to respiratory problems,” Ingrid, a Swedish architect and founder of microfinance organization, Jamii Bora Trust, said in a statement.
President William Ruto decorates Bob Munro with the Elder of Burning Spear on December 12, 2024.
In Kenya, Munro is best known for founding the Mathare Youth Sports Organisation (MYSA), a pioneer self-help outfit that combined youth, sports, community development and environmental initiatives to improve the lives of youths in underprivileged communities.
He is credited with midwifing the development of the Kenyan Premier League and was a fearless critic of Kenya’s troubled management of the game, at times risking his own life to call out corrupt football leaders.
And away from sport, Munro worked as a senior adviser to governments and international agencies on integrating environmental and equity issues in economic planning and strengthening environmental policies, laws and institutions for sustainable development, especially in Africa since 1985.
“Bob Munro was a pillar of our sports and a firm believer in youth development. His drive to make football thrive in Kenya was extraordinary,” President Ruto eulogised Munro yesterday.
“Bob expertly spotted and nurtured talents, and brought sanity in the game. Our thoughts are with the family and the sports fraternity at this dark moment. Rest in peace, Bob,” the President added.
Munro founded MYSA in 1987, an organisation whose impact, locally and globally, has been so massive that when the deportation threats came up, over 120 individuals from 30 countries signed a petition in his support.
Football Kenya chairman Sam Nyamweya (right) chats with Mathare United chairman Bob Munro (left) during the unveiling of the state-of-the-art Supersport and M-Net studios in Nairobi on August 30, 2013.
“We felt it proportionate and necessary to call for support when the sports minister threatened to expel Munro from Kenya on the grounds that were not rooted in any national or international law,” Jens Sejer Andersen, Director of Denmark-based sports think tank “Play the Game” said in support of Munro in 2007.
Since inception, MYSA has developed top footballers and administrators in both sport and the corporate world, key among them Francis Kimanzi, a former Mathare United Football Club player and coach and currently head coach of Kenya’s national football team, Harambee Stars.
Bob Munro (right) receives Arsenal legend Robert Pires at MYSA head office on December 5, 2015.
“We have lost our football grandpa. He was our striker off the pitch in bringing change, and Kenyan football would not have been where it is without him,” Kimanzi mourned his mentor yesterday.
“Many of us have enjoyed the fruits of his fight, and his fight was worth it. We are happy that he could stand up and enjoy seeing the fruits of what he was fighting for, and the players he was fighting for being successful.
“We know we have represented him well and we are in numbers… the fight he was fighting for was good,” added Kimanzi, 48, who trained as a coach in the Netherlands.
Munro was meticulous in his operations, a stickler to detail, humorous and procedural to a fault.
“Bob was a disciplinarian, time keeper and always used to keep records. I remember when I joined MYSA as CEO in 2009, he showed me a receipt of his table and chair which he bought in 1968 when he used to work with the United Nations,” recalls Jecton Obure, Mathare United FC’s Chief Executive Officer.
“He has mentored many people and without him, we wouldn’t be where we are. I was very close to him in the last 16 to 17 years and 24 or 36 hours wouldn’t pass before we spoke to one another…
“We have lost a great man who changed the lives of many. His body is gone but his spirit is with us and we need to keep that fire burning.”
Obure also confirmed yesterday that a funds drive to help with Munro’s funeral rites will be held at Nairobi’s United Kenya Club from 5pm on Friday this week, with a ceremony planned on Saturday which will see Munro’s funeral procession go through MYSA’s Komarock headquarters.
“It was his wish to be cremated but details of his interment will be announced later,” Obure added.
Capped 10 times at Harambee Stars, Anthony “Modo” Kimani captained Mathare United to its first, and so far only, Kenyan Premier League title in 2008.
Yesterday, he mourned Munro as “a father, leader and visionary” who believed in the youth charting out their own destiny.
“We have lost a father, leader and visionary. I don’t think there’s anyone who would have thought MYSA would be where it is today, but this is what Bob had already envisioned and he knew that there would be no better people to carry this vision forward than the youth,” said Kimani whose premiership coaching journey has taken him to Nairobi City Stars, Sofapaka and Bandari FC.
“He believed in us to take up his own vision, he was always available whenever we needed him and I believe we have done our best to make him proud.
“We came from humble backgrounds and he gave us a structured path to becoming whatever we wanted to become in sports. He will be dearly missed but we believe his good work and legacy will live on forever.”
Growing up in the Mathare slums as a 12-year-old, rudderless youth some 31 years ago, Edwin Wasonga thanks Munro for giving him a sense of direction.
Wasonga, 43, is now CEO at the Mathare Youth Sports Association and he thanks Munro for developing his career.
“I will miss a very important person in my life, someone who would always pick your calls and offer guidance,” Wasonga reflected yesterday, noting that Munro impacted positively the lives of over 100,000 erstwhile hopeless youths.
“Over 100,000 youths have passed through Bob without whose contribution Kenyan football wouldn’t be where it is.
“Our motto at MYSA is ‘Giving youth a sporting chance’ and this has seen youths transition to young leaders.
“Growing up in Mathare (slums), I faced a lot of challenges but because of Bob, I was able to overcome these challenges and become the person I am today. He helped me build self-esteem, confidence and leadership skills,” added Wasonga who developed from volunteer to youth officer, programme manager, programme director and, eventually, CEO at MYSA.
Munro’s contribution to the development of grassroots women’s football was immense.
“We (MYSA) were the first to organize a grassroots girls’ football tournament in Africa and Bob helped many girls from informal settlements believe they can play the game,” Wasonga observed yesterday.
“At a time people never believed in women’s football, Bob made it possible to create an equal playing ground for boys and girls in Mathare,” former MYSA Board Member and CEO Patricia Mutheu agrees.
“He was a true reflection of equity and it is because of him that we are whom we are. He assured we had leadership skills as youths and taught us responsibility from the age of 10.
“He created safe spaces for us girls to grow and develop life skills not only in football, but in many other things as well…
“In terms of human resource development, he was unmatched. He was worth trillions of shillings and his death is a huge loss for all of us,” Mutheu added.
Munro played multiple roles and was effective in all, a jack of all trades and master of all.
He was Managing Director at XXCEL Africa Limited - the company that, inter alia, manages Mathare United FC - a Consultant and Senior Policy Adviser on Sustainable Development and founding Director of the Kenyan Premier League Limited.
Born on September 1, 1942, he was raised in St Catharines, Ontario, Canada, and earned his bachelor’s degree at the McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1966.
A Canadian citizen, married with two Swedish daughters (his wife Ingrid being Swedish), three Kenyan sons and seven grandchildren, Munro has been a Kenyan resident since 1985 and his death on Sunday, unfortunately, came agonizingly close to him gaining full Kenyan citizenship.
In his resume, Munro is credited with leading three pioneering global initiatives: The worldwide environmental movement at, and since the 1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment; the worldwide transition toward sustainable development in and after the 1987 UN World Commission Report on “Our Common Future”; and the worldwide sport for development and peace movement with the MYSA youth since 1987.
