SHAME OF THE BONO CHARITY BULLIES
MoS probe forces aid giant to go public about boss who ‘told female worker to seduce MP or face sack’
WORKERS at a charity founded by Bono have been subjected to a ‘toxic’ culture of bullying and abuse.
Bosses at the ONE charity have covered up the horrific allegations for years, but a major Mail on Sunday investigation has exposed a catalogue of humiliating incidents that has now sparked a multimillion-euro lawsuit.
In the worst case, a married woman says she felt pressured to have sex with an elderly Tanzanian MP. When she refused, she was demoted to receptionist and had her salary slashed, she
claims. Taken together, the astonishing complaints depict an organisation driven by intimidation and contempt, with staff belittled and undermined, both in front of colleagues and in public.
The charity also failed to pay taxes – despite campaigning against tax evasion – and is alleged to have illegally employed foreign workers on tourist visas.
Bono last night said he was ‘deeply sorry’ for the situation, which he admitted had ‘gone badly wrong’. He said he was left ‘reeling and furious’ about the scale of the allegations and vowed to meet victims to apologise in person.
Much of the mistreatment is said to have been at the hands of Sipho Moyo, the former €195,000-a-year Africa executive director of ONE. The complaints include claims that she:
Intimidated one member of staff into massaging her feet;
Woke another worker at 1am in South Africa and ordered her to sort out the air-conditioning in her hotel room – in Seattle;
Invited colleagues to parties at her house, only to use them as waiting staff, making one woman stand outside for up to seven hours mixing drinks;
Ordered a worker to find her a greyhound puppy, then drive to another city to collect it.
Moyo, the organisation’s most senior African official from 2010 until 2015, hit back last night. She said she ‘vehemently denies’ the bullying claims and argues she is being smeared. She claims that other directors treated her ‘like their personal maid’ and abused her in public.
ONE, whose board of high-profile figures includes former British prime minister David Cameron and Facebook chief Sheryl Sandberg, now admits there was ‘mistreatment and inaction’ by former managers.
The charity rushed out a public statement nine hours after this newspaper sent it a long list of allegations. Its current president, Gayle Smith, said she was ‘troubled’ by the claims, accepting there was ‘what I would characterise as bullying and belittling of staff’.
The claims, backed by witness statements and documentary evidence, are hugely embarrassing for an organisation that harnesses celebrities to campaign against corruption, sexism and ‘dirty money’.
‘The toxic environment was terrible, with staff treated so badly,’ said one former manager. ‘It was awful for an organisation that claims to fight for social justice, respect and equality. I had never seen anything like this.
‘This went on for years. It would never have been allowed to happen in London or Washington but we were just Africans. Their attitude was let them eat themselves.’
When a delegation was sent from London to dampen the disquiet, they told staff to rub a wooden elephant to channel ‘negative energies’. ‘This was the final insult,’ said one man. ‘It was really patronising. Did they think we were Africans so some voodoo would help?’
Angry ex-staff say their lives were left devastated after working in ONE’s ‘hostile environment’ – and that nothing was done about their claims until after they started complaining publicly on social media in November in the wake of Hollywood sex scandals.
Last week lawyers acting for seven of the former staff, dismayed by inaction over the complaints, launched a legal case demanding €4m compensation for distress. They sent a letter seeking damages for ‘emotional, physical and psychological abuse’ under Moyo. Other staff said bullying continued for two years after she left.
The letter also alleges ‘wrongful and malicious mistreatment’ at the hands of Moyo, her former deputy director Nachilala Nkombo and Jane Ilori, a former human resources director, who they claim ignored their pleas for help.
Abuse and bullying led more than 20 staff to quit in five years, several saying they remain traumatised and in need of therapy.
One British woman was treated for depression and her hair fell out due to stress.
The claims are a blow for Bono, who speaks about ‘representing the poorest and most vulnerable people’. He set up ONE in 2004 to raise awareness of poverty, backed by big aid charities.
It has campaigned to write off Third World debt, has pushed anti-malaria campaigns and raised €400 m to fight HIV and Aids through its RED offshoot.
Last night, the star said in response to the allegations: ‘I hate bullying, can’t stand it. The poorest people in the poorest places being bullied by their circumstance is the reason we set up ONE.’
And the MoS understands that Mr Cameron was warned about the problems before joining the board three months ago, soon after the former employees started raising the matters on Twitter.
After being told the issue was in the past, he attended his first board meeting with Bono at Claridge’s hotel in London.
Britain’s Charity Commission, however, was only informed 11 days ago. A spokeswoman said they were working to ensure that staff are ‘properly protected’. The issue started to emerge on November 7 last year when Idriss Nassah, a Malawian journalist, started tweeting about abuse and cover-ups during his year-long stint working in the communications department at ONE.
Other former workers responded with similar complaints. ‘Don’t remind me of that hellhole… my 4 months felt like a long prison sentence,’ responded one.
After 17 people stepped forward, the group realised the scale of misery. ‘I thought my experiences were bad but the more I talked with the others, the more I realised these problems were deep-rooted in the organisation,’ said a former staffer.
The most serious allegation is that of the married woman in her mid-30s, who says she was demoted after refusing to sleep with a Tanzanian MP in his 60s.
Her claim is backed by a colleague who said the traumatised woman told him: ‘My boss is pimping me off with a politician.’
However, Moyo told the MoS that she ‘doesn’t recognise any element’ of that claim.
Other staff recall a fusillade of angry phone calls into the night and at weekends. ‘She would be screaming and shouting,’ said one assistant. ‘I stopped going to the movies or going out socially because the calls kept coming.’
Like others, she quit without having another job to go to. ‘You ended up blaming yourself like a rape victim,’ said one female manager. ‘I’ve been a victim of this and you keep wondering what you could have done differently. It was a different kind of abuse but it still crushes you emotionally.’
Several say they have been left traumatised, lacking confidence and unable to hold down jobs, so want cash to fund therapy.
Staff allege they were forced to do endless menial tasks including, in one case, massaging Moyo’s feet. ‘I did not want to be shouted at again so if massaging her feet meant no shouting, then I did that,’ said the woman. Moyo denies the claim.
Another told of being ordered to fix the heating at a conference Moyo was attending abroad, despite being in South Africa – only to eventually discover that Moyo was sitting next to the event organiser. ‘It was so humiliating,’ she said.
Several disclosed they had to spend nights serving food and drink at Moyo’s parties. Moyo insists they were invited as guests, but one email to staff tells them not to
Former staff sue for emotional, physical and psychological abuse ‘You end up blaming yourself... it crushes you’