Severed human head sent to Kenyan police commissioner
Police patrolling the streets of Mombasa, Kenya, earlier this year. The US Embassy has warned that a terrorist attack on the city could be “imminent.”
Kenya’s reform-minded police commissioner, Johnston Kavuludi, received an unwelcome package on Aug. 29 – a box containing a severed human head and two hands covered in blood.
"Kavuludi, you are next,” read a note included in the box.
Nairobi police chief Benson Kibui told the Nation that the police have linked the head to a torso recently found on a farm outside the city.
Kavuludi was appointed last year to push through reforms to the police force, and officers said they view the package as a grisly warning against his efforts.
Comprehensive police reforms were introduced in 2011 aimed at stopping violations committed by police during post-election violence in 2007-2008, but implementation has been blocked.
The reforms transfer some powers from the police chief to the commission, including responsibility for recruitment and discipline of police officers.
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Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.