Kenya steps up pressure on Bob Munro
In Kenya political pressure is mounting on Bob Munro, the Canadian-born chairman of Mathare United. A month ago Kenya’s minister of sport Maina Kamanda threatened to deport Munro from Kenya and yesterday Munro was picked up by six immigration officers and two police men who took him to a meeting with the Principal Immigration Officer to discuss his work permit.
Munro currently holds an ‘A’ class work permit but the Department of Immigration insists that this has been issued by a mistake. Munro must instead apply for an ‘H’ class permit that applies to investors. Munro was informed of this in a letter dated 27 November which also said that if Munro did not obtain the new permit within two weeks, his work permit would be cancelled altogether – leading to deportation.
Munro has held an ‘A’ class work permit for nine years and is at a loss to understand why it took Kenyan immigration officers so long to discover that he had been issued with the wrong type of permit.
“It raises a lot of suspicion when Immigration officials question me about a work permit that was issued just two months ago and it happens at a time when some people have publicly boasted they would have me deported,” Munro told the Kenyan newspaper, the Standard.
Munro’s lawyer, Mwangi Njeru, said that he was disturbed by the manner in which the inquiries were made.
“The timing raises a lot of queries and is a violation of his human rights,” he said.
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Read other articles from Play the Game about Bob Munro and the situation in Kenyan football:
Kenya’s sport minister acted in excess of his power, says court(27 November 2006)
Kenya Premier League continues to fight for corruption-free football(20 November 2006)
Munro still in Kenya as football unites against minister(8 November 2006)
Kenyan government deports sports developer Bob Munro(3 November 2006)