Twalib Mbarak, the man Kenyans are now counting on to help them fight with corruption should he get Parliament’s approval is not new to Public Service having held various Positions of the same nature in the past.
Those who have interacted with Mbarak in professional and social circles describe him as soft-spoken, decisive and down-to-earth.
The former military intelligence officer was nominated by the EACC as its new CEO on November 30. He emerged tops in a pool of 14 candidates. The interviews were held from November 27 to 29.
“He had the strongest CV, matched with sterling presentation skills. The EACC couldn’t have got a better CEO. He will bring a lot of acumen and goodwill, both local and international. He had the highest score. The rest came distant with average performances,” said a source familiar with the vetting process.
Mbarak’s CV is replete with admirable qualifications. The 53-year-old joined the Kamuzu Military College, Malawi, as an army officer cadet in 1984. The Kilifi-born Kenyan served as a platoon commander of Kenya Riffles in 1985-88, security office (military protective security) in 1987-91, before taking up a one-year job on a UN military observer mission for Western Sahara referendum. Between 1993 and 1996, he served as a personal assistant to the director of military intelligence, before moving on to the Horn of Africa Military Intelligence Corp.
Mbarak joined the National Security Intelligence Service as the head of Research and Analysis External Division in 1990. AT NIS, he also served as head of Protective Security, head of Security Analysis and Production Division and Principal Officer, as well as head of NIS Academy Research and Development department. He is credited with training and mentoring some of the top spies in the country.
He left the NIS in 2006 and joined EACC’s precursor — the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission — as principal officer in the Under Cover Investigations Unit where he served until 2010.
Until his recent nomination, he was the Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) security and integrity manager.
“He is credited with creating the integrity department here at KenGen. Today, countries and other government agencies are coming to benchmark. Perhaps that speaks to why KenGen is the least corrupt state agency,” his former colleague at the company said.
“He is a forthright, honest and straight-to-the-point person. Unlike many bosses, he leads by example,” another KenGen officer said.
In a memorandum to Parliament, the Association of Corporate and Industrial Security Management Professional Kenya — a body that brings together ex-senior military officers — threw its weight behind Mbarak’s nomination. Mbarak has fostered a culture of integrity and compliance throughout his career, it said.
“The nominee has mentored many up-and-coming security professionals through tutelage, internship opportunities, coaching and training on strategic security, investigations and intelligence,” secretary general Augustine Lokwang and vice chairman Michael Kariuki said in the joint memorandum.
They said Mbarak is a man with massive public and corporate sector goodwill and needed contacts and networks to deliver on the work ahead.
“He has demonstrated professionalism, competence and successfully helped reduced loss of public funds through revenue leakages related to fraud, theft and corruption; hence, his experience and expertise make him relevant for the role,” the memorandum read.
Do you support Mbaraka’s nomination given the above qualifications?