Kenya police commissioner Johnston Kavuludi sent severed head

A note with the head read: 'Kavuludi, you are next'

Kenya's police commissioner has received a severed head in a parcel.

The package, sent to Johnston Kavuludi, who is charged with reforming the service, carried a message which read: "Kavuludi, you are next." It also included hands, apparently from the same body, and was left outside the headquarters of the National Police Service Commission in the centre of the capital, Nairobi.

City police chief Benson Kibui, who revealed the news, said: "We cannot tell the motive behind this," calling it a "heinous" act.

The parcel is a grim sign, as Mr Kavuludi seeks to reform the force. He was appointed last year to head the commission, a largely civilian police oversight body.

Comprehensive reforms, spurred by police violations during post-election violence in 2007 and 2008, were introduced in 2011 but not yet implemented. They transfer some powers from the police chief to the commission, including responsibility for recruitment and officer discipline.

According to AFP, explosive experts were called in when the package was feared to be a bomb, but upon inspection they discovered the body parts.