Mombasa County gets new CID boss four days after similar changes

Mombasa, Kenya: Nicholas Kamwende has returned to Nairobi as the County Criminal Investigations Officer (CCIO) four days after he was moved to Coast.

His transfer to Coast was rescinded in changes announced by Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters Wednesday.

Coast’s Henry Ondiek was moved to Embu as the CCIO and replaced by Pius Macharia.

Ondiek had been moved to Nairobi on Saturday but he was on Wednesday informed to go back to Mombasa and hand over to Mr Macharia before reporting in Embu.

The changes are the latest in a series that have been announced in the past months aimed at enhancing police operations.

It is not clear what motivated the new changes that came at a time when Kenya Ports Authority is undergoing major managerial changes.

Among those affected were police seconded to the port. The new Kilindini CID boss is Juliana Muthini. A new OCPD is yet to be posted there.

The changes at the port come at a time when there is contention between authorities and freight service providers. The port is undergoing major operational changes aimed at enhancing collection of revenue at large.

The changes were announced amid reports they are also part of realignments ahead of the general elections next year.

There are concerns even if the elections are more than a year away, police are not well prepared to handle the situation.