All eyes on Nelson Marwa’s leadership style as another top official transferred

Coast Regional Coordinator Nelson Marwa addressing the press during a meeting at his boardroom in Mombasa County on Wednesday 17th August 2016. [Photo/Kelvin Karani/Standard]

The transfer of two senior officers in a span of a few months have put Coast Regional Coordinator Nelson Marwa’s leadership style into focus.

Early last week, Mombasa County Commissioner Maalim Mohamed was transferred to Kisumu, hardly three months after reporting from Bungoma. Although he described his removal as “a normal transfer because as a civil servant we are required to work in all parts of Kenya,” Maalim’s transfer had been a matter of speculation for weeks.

Reports of bad blood between Maalim and Coast Regional Coordinator Nelson Marwa had become legendary. These reports reached a climax when Marwa issued a statement ordering Maalim to combat crime “instead of talking big” after violent crime spiraled in parts of Mombasa.

Mid-July, Marwa appeared to chide Maalim when he said that when he was commissioner for Mombasa, “crime was zero,” suggesting Maalim, who had reported on June 1, was not living to his expectation. These attacks reportedly angered Maalim.

Insiders say that at this juncture, communication between the two broke down completely and they would not be seen together. They often addressed rival press conferences and gave conflicting reports on similar matters.

Marwa declined to be interviewed on this matter and he neither answered calls nor responded to text messages regarding claims he had something to do with Maalim’s sudden departure. Insiders confirm the bad blood between Marwa and Maalim revolved around their working styles.

Reports indicate they competed to be the national government’s official spokesman. Matters were made worse by the fact that both are on the same job group even though Marwa is the Regional Coordinator.

Whereas Marwa felt that he was better-placed as a long time administrator in Mombasa, Maalim also suffered no illusions about his own abilities having served as District Commissioner in Mombasa earlier.

Unconfirmed reports also indicate a conflict between the two egoistic men who crave media attention was inevitable, considering that Marwa suddenly found himself with undefined powers when he was made the Regional Coordinator.

As a Muslim, Maalim was also believed to command respect among local muslims and also had intimate knowledge of radical groups, a credential that, ironically, seems to have annoyed key people in the civil service.

There is no evidence to suggest Marwa ordered Maalim’s transfer. But Maalim, who was non-compromising on security issues, lost the battle against a cartel led by influential civil servants who were reportedly unhappy with his political détente with local politicians and successes in the security and economic sectors.

Some reports suggest this cartel could be plotting against Marwa too or have tried but failed. With Maalim’s departure, Marwa has outlived most if not all top senior security officials he found or arrived with at the same time, fueling theories that either the national government trusts him or those under him have not performed to expectations.

Early this year, Marwa was elevated to the post of Regional Coordinator after close to four years as a county commissioner. This move was seen in some quarters as a demotion given the new post attracted less visibility than the previous one.

His allies celebrated his new posting as “a hard-earned reward” because of his stance against terrorism and political hooliganism. But to his critics, it was a demotion because it “lacked clout and direct power over security operations.”

One even said “the sun is finally setting on this old-style DC who lives in the past” adding that, as Regional Coordinator, Marwa was now a “mere national government protocol officer” and his success would depend on the performance of the region’s six County Commissioners.

“Regional Coordinator’s position is just for prestige as he is seen to be controlling the County Commissioners but he lacks resources and has no control over the security apparatus,” said Ngumbao Nyule, former District Officer in Mombasa.

Mr Nyule argued earlier this year that resources from the national government go directly to the County Commissioners while the Regional Coordinator “only gets little to manage protocol issues.”

“The prestige of Regional Coordinator lies only in receiving salutes from the County Commissioners and that is why it is seen as a promotion,” argued Nyule.

In July 13, 2013, the Ministry of Internal Security directed that Regional Coordinators would be in charge of a cluster of counties and were expected to operate from Nairobi. The directive did not  articulate the specific role of the office.

In the Public Service cadre, the Regional Coordinator position is sometimes ranked higher than the County Commissioner but Marwa’s predecessor, Mr Samuel Kilele’s tenure was subdued.

“My understanding is that he (Marwa) was elevated to have an eye beyond Mombasa, but I don’t think he will be as effective as he was during his tenure as the County Commissioner,” said former Mombasa Law Society of Kenya chairman Erick Nyongesa in July.

Mr Nyongesa said Marwa has been deprived of direct powers over security apparatus but other analysts say he still wields influence over the Administration Police, and within the Interior ministry.

Early this year, Marwa led a contingent of Administration Police officers in raiding a go-down at Miritini in Mombasa following claims that it was dealing in contraband rice.

He by-passed Changamwe Police Station and Kenya Revenue Authority and Kenya Bureau of Standard saying he believed the officers there were being compromised by tax evaders.

In a past interview, Mr Kilele, Marwa’s predecessor, said his role role as Regional Coordinator mainly involved making sure that national government officials, especially the President and his deputy toured the region without experiencing any hitches.

Many senior police officers and civil servants who have earned Marwa’s wrath prefer not to speak about him on record, even as they say he comes across as a bully.

Some of them believe they were transferred on Marwa’s orders and accuse him of taking credit for all the success by top civil servants.

Some analysts believe Marwa’s attacks on police operations spurred frosty relations with senior police officers leading to mass transfers, including the departure of Mombasa County commander Robert Kitur and most of his juniors.

“I am not responsible for the transfers of police officers and county commissioners,” Marwa told The Standard on Sunday in an earlier interview. “Those are malicious reports and I do not want to be associated with them.”