Today's Headlines
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- ICC Charges Hound Uhuru Out of Treasury
- Consumers Grow Despite Inflation
- Poor Relations Between Banks Blamed for Cash Shortages
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Ouma Wanzala and Fred Mukinda
8 September 2010
Nairobi — Police are investigating a bizarre case in which a decomposed human head, neatly packed in a box, was sent by courier to a government official.
The package, sent from Nairobi on Monday, was addressed to Mr Tom Ileve, an employee of the Kenya Revenue Authority in Busia.
A G4S guard delivered the package at about 1 pm the following day. On opening the foul-smelling package, Mr Ileve was shocked to find it contained a human head.
Detectives said the bizarre parcel was probably a message to scare off the recipient.
Business cartels
G4S said a woman took the box at its collection point in the city's Community area at 9.09 am on Tuesday.
"The consignor signed her name according to procedure. G4S Courier then delivered the package to a colleague of the consignee at the Kenya Revenue Authority offices in Busia.
"The G4S courier handed it over to the consignee's colleague, who signed for it as the consignee was out at the time. We have since learned that the package contained a human head," G4S managing director John Wheater said.
Busia police boss Micheni Muthamia said he suspected business cartels behind crossborder illegal trade could be behind the warning.
"We have links that could lead us to arresting the suspect," he said. Police said the head was so disfigured that it could not be identified.
Mr Ileve also said that none of his relatives had been reported missing. Although he was at work as usual on Wednesday, the strain of his ordeal was written all over Mr Ileve's face.
He refused to talk to journalists. "We talked about this on Tuesday and I am not ready to speak to you on the same issue," Mr Ileve said as he dismissed the Nation team.
The head was taken back to Nairobi by a senior detective at the Busia police station. The head, whose skull was partially exposed, had no lower jaw and had some broken teeth.
A senior police officer who saw the gruesome "parcel" said it was wrapped in several layers of paper and then in gift wrapping paper before being sealed in the box.
