To his critics, Mombasa County Commissioner Nelson Marwa is a throwback to the defunct authoritarian Provincial Administration that was a law unto itself.
But for his admirers, the narrow-faced stickler to the rule of law with a passion to serve and improve services for citizens, is exactly what the doctor ordered but is just misunderstood by bureaucrats and political leaders defending the status quo.
From shoot to kill orders, his audacity to take on senior central government officials and the Mombasa governor Hassan Joho, Marwa has been criticised and praised in equal measure.
Undoubtedly, unlike the other 46 County Commissioners, Marwa has dominated the local headlines and airwaves with his American accent when he is issuing warning to criminals.
When we sought an interview with him, he declined because "I don't wish to glorify myself. Let people say what they want to but my work is to make sure that mwananchi gets the services."
The outspoken administrator arrives in the office before 6am and one does not need an appointment to see him. For him, it is first-come-first-served policy.
Several accounts indicate Marwa holds three degrees, is a son of a missionary and he grew up in Tanzania and Uganda.
Born in in Kuria, Migori County, Marwa grew up in missionary centres and schools in Ikizu in Tanzania and Bugema in Uganda and later moved to Kindu Mission Hospital in Kenya.
He studied at Baraton University where he majored in Business Administration, then moved to Virginia School of Coast Guards, Australia, for his Masters in Strategic Security Management. He also has a Masters in Disaster Management from Israel.
It is said that when he came back from Australia in 1991, his cousin, professor Chacha Nyaigoti Chacha, offered him a job as a lecturer at Egerton University.
It is also said that in 1992, elders from the Kuria community approached President Daniel Moi to complain about the marginalization of the Kuria community and asked him to appoint one of their own to the then powerful Provincial Administration, and he agreed.
In a past interview, Marwa said that it is his professor Chacha who persuaded him to join the Provincial Administration after Mr Moi gave in to the demands of the elders.
He was then posted to Kibis in Lodwar, Turkana County and later transferred to Nyeri. He later worked in several parts of the then Rift Valley province.
At some point, he was posted Kwale District to serve as the first DO in a newly created Samburu Division. He was later transferred Kaloleni and he later became the Kilindini District Commissioner in 2007.
When President Mwai Kibaki, in a bid to reorganise the Provincial Administration as stipulated in new constitution, divided Coast into two regions, Marwa became the Regional Commissioner of the defunct South Coast region which comprised of Mombasa, Kwale and Taita Taveta.
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He held that position for a brief period and in May 2012, he was appointed the Mombasa County Commissioner.
This was the time the county was experiencing terrorist-insecurity and reports of the rise in number of radicalised youths streaming in from Somali, were rife.
Since his appointment, Marwa who described himself as a "patriot and a champion of harmony" has remained consistent in his fight against terrorism and corruption.
"I don't consider that as a hazard, instead, I consider myself a patriot and I am willing to pay the ultimate price for my country," he told our sister publication in The Nairobian.
"Change is often costly and I will not be deserving to hold this office if I allow things to degenerate under my watch."
He said that he will not waiver in the fight against drug trafficking and radicalisation, adding that the war is far from over and "any achievement is a victory that motivates us to do more."
His stance has earned him admirers in the likes of Erick Nyongesa, the chair of Law Society of Kenya, Mombasa Chapter, and Catholic Priest Father Gabriel Dolan who say that although Marwa's demeanour is like that of a former DC, he has in several instances stood with the voiceless.
"He is an old school guy. But the best old school because he is passionate and hard working. One can say he is the voice of the voiceless although sometimes one tends to think he needs to read the Constitution to know his limits," Father Dolan said.
Father Dolan, an equal rights defender who works at Saint Patrick's Missionary Society in Mombasa, adds that Marwa's 'iron fist' security policy of cracking down on extremist groups has been borne fruits and brought peace in the county.
Nyongesa says that Marwa has managed to "bring stability in terms of checks and balance in the county which did not have some semblance of sanity because the Opposition is weak. He is the only man who can stand up to Governor Joho's administration."
Mombasa County's 30 elected and 15 nominated Members of the County Assembly, six Members of Parliament, Women's Representative and the Senator all belong to the same coalition.
Even though Mombasa Senator Hassan Omar has spoken against the misuse of public resources in the county, he has also clashed with Marwa over the methods State agencies use to stem the spread of extremist groups and insecurity.
Senator Omar has consistently accused Marwa and the central government of profiling Muslim youths as terrorists. Such youth either disappear or later found dead.
Marwa has also come under fire over his methods of tackling insecurity, and politicians and equal rights crusaders have faulted his shoot-to-kill orders.
The killing Sheikh Aboud Rogo and Abubakar Shariff Ahmed, alias Makaburi and the alleged enforced disappearance of Muslim youths, created created a major rift between Marwa and the county's politicians.
"Initially we actually misunderstand Marwa. He is a strict and principled man. He is a stickler to the law and he does not keep grudges," said Francis Ouma, enforcement officer at Haki Africa Group.
Ouma said that Marwa has managed to endear himself to the community or wananchi because he is friendly, unlike other administrators.
"His office is always open and any person who goes there has a chance to see him regardless of the problem," says Ouma. "Sometimes, Marwa solves private problems of those who do not have school fees or cannot afford medical costs."
If he is polite in private, in public, he takes no prisoners.
Last month, he publicly accused Musa Hamis Musa, the Kenya Ferry Services Managing Director of corruption and demanded his removal from the troubled State corporation.
His act infuriated John Mosonik, the Transport and Infrastructure Principal Secretary who said those accusing KFS of incompetence were "ignorant and out to intimidate other civil servants" without following the right procedures.
But Marwa hit back and said the PS is "unsympathetic to Kenyans suffering because of ineptness of the ferry services."
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