Whistle blower incriminates MYSA in sex scandal

By Robin Toskin

Celebrated Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA) is wading through a serious storm ranging from accusations of age cheating, misappropriation of funds, and sexual harassment, FeverPitch can report.

The accusations have caused a furore in Norway after Dagbladet newspaper, with an average daily circulation of 98, 989 copies, broke the story in the Nordic country.

MYSA has been taking age-group teams, both boys and girls to Nordic countries for a series of tournaments such as Ekeberg, in Oslo Norway, over the years.

It is emerging that some officials and trainers have been seeking sexual favours from minors hoping to break from the harrowing slum life, while others are said to pay their way to Norway. Now, one of MYSA’s benefactors, Strømme Foundation, has since stopped funding MYSA projects pending proper investigations.

In a press release posted on the Foundation’s website - www.stromme.org - following a report by a commission led by Diane Huffman, a senior advisor for the Norwegian Olympic Committee, the organisation has put on hold its partnership with MYSA.
It said: “During the autumn of 2011 Strømme Foundation received a report from a whistle-blower in which there were serious accusations against Mathare Youth Sport Association, MYSA, in Kenya.”

It adds: “The accusations were so serious that Strømme Foundation put their partnership with MYSA on hold.  We chose to freeze all funding, and postpone all trips to MYSA.  At the same time we appointed an international commission to investigate the validity of these allegations.”

MYSA, headed by philanthropist Bob Munro, has touched the lives of many destitute children in the sprawling Mathare slums through various age-grade football teams. But the 25-year history of the organisation is now under a threat over the allegations.

Strømme Foundations General Secretary Øyvind Aadland said: “When we received the whistleblowers report we acted swiftly.
Through the assessment we have sadly received documentation that the fundamental rights have been abused in a network, who should stand out as a bulwark against injustice in the slums of Mathare.”

The report points out three main areas — Identity falsification (age cheating in connection with international sports events); misappropriation of funds and other forms of corruption; and sexual harassment and abuse of girls and young women. What is important is to make the “weakest of the weak” aware of their rights.”

Contacted, Munro dismissed the allegations as witch-hunt adding that like any other big organisation malpractice can’t be ruled out.

“Is MYSA full of thieves, age cheats and sexual abusers as alleged by the SF (Strømme Foundation)? Of course not. MYSA hasn’t changed.

Sadly, however, the SF has changed. Over the last five months MYSA has been shocked and disappointed that its oldest partner suddenly and repeatedly started going behind MYSA’s back to the media with such serious and unproven allegations and tried to make itself look good at the expense of its partner and the youth in the Mathare slums.”

Asked about alleged sexual harassment in MYSA, Munro said: “Of course there is, just like in any large organization anywhere in the world including even the Boy Scouts and Catholic Church. It’s foolish to pretend otherwise, especially when working with over 25,000 boys and girls in one of Africa’s largest and poorest slums.

What is important is not that it happens but what an organizations does to prevent and how it acts when it inevitably does happen.”