By Dickens Wasonga in Kisumu.

In what appeared like a push by the Kenya government to shield its dented image over media reports indicating that a senior deputy provincial commissioner based in Nyanza was missing,top security chiefs hurriedly convened press briefings in three different towns, several miles apart, to set the record straight and stop what it described as confusion spread by the press to mislead the public.

However, one fact could not be wished away by the good old government, and that fact was that Mr Oku Kaunya, who is understood to be a potential and key witness against the sponsors of the country’s worst post-poll violence had indeed gone into hidding after he recieved death threatening text messages on his cell phone a few weeks ago.

While Nairobi woke up to the shocking news of the pc’s disapearence, Nyanza province and Kisumu in particular was already awash with speculations about who could have possibly wanted to eliminate Mr. Oku Kaunya, who was serving in the area as a regional commisioner in charge of central part of the province.

In a bid to alley fears and stop more confusion, as they described the media reports, the Ps in the ministry of internal security and provincial administration adressed a well attended morning press conference in Nairobi, where he declared the officer was on annual leave and was not missing.

The same chorus was being echoed miles away in Kisumu, Nyanza’s provincial headquaters, by the local Pc, Mr Francis Mutie, who seemed to have been taken aback by the reports of the alleged disappearence of his principal assistant.

What they however failed to tell the media was why they appeared only too keen to dismiss the media reports, instead of taking a keen interest in investigating the matter that touched on the very life of one of their own dear senior colleague.

Even more interesting is the fact that the reports about the disappearence of the officer was made to a section of Kenyan media by his wife, who dusclosed that the man had not been home for three days, and could not be reached even by the worried family members since the phone was swiched off.

Focussing its entire efforts only on damage control, the government was holding yet another press conference at the western provincial headquaters in Kakamega, this time strangely adressed by both the area PC Mr Simon Kelele and the very officer whose life is at stake.

Although the officer also denied earlier press reports that said he was missing, the senior administrator confirmed that he had recieved death threats and proceeded to report the matter to the police in Bungoma.

He also told the press that the same report was made to the police in Nyanza, adding that the PCIO, Mr Sabastian Ndaru was fully briefed.

It is however not clear why the senior civil servant chose to report and record statements over a threat on his life to the police several kilometers in another province, instead of doing so Kisumu where he is based.

The Pc, under whose command the officer worked, found himself hard pressed to explain to journalists gathered at his office why Kaunya’s wife told the media in Kisumu that her husband was missing, and even went ahead to record a statement with the CID officers in Kisumu, if she indeed was well aware that the man was on leave as put by his bosses.

Observers will be keen to follow the baffling story of the deputy PC unfold, given that he is said to be one of the potential and key witnesses of the post-poll chaos that rocked the country in early 2008.

Kaunya was, until his posting in January as deputy Pc for Nyanza central, the administration police deputy commandant based at the formation’s training school in Embakasi, Nairobi.

The Aps were variously mentioned as having taken a partisan role during and after the elections whose results were disputed, and a section of the media in Kenya carried reports that alleged that some of the officers were killed by voters on suspicion that they were agents of a certain political party that had fielded its candidate on the presidential race.

Before media reports of his alleged disappearence, security men at his Kisumu’s official residence and his driver are said to have also recieved death threats allegedly from a senior administration police officer in the rapid deployment unit (RDU), a special squad with no definite mandate.

Mrs. Milicent Kaunya, the administrator s wife, his guard and the driver have since recorded statements at the Nyanza provincial police headquaters.

Yesterday Mrs Kaunya told journalists in Kisumu that a call was made to her husband by some sources that an offer of ksh. 3m had been placed on his head.

His lawyer, Mr Aja Alubayi, when contacted said Kaunya has lately resorted to putting up with friends because he was constantly being trailed by people he suspected were on a mission to kill him.

He said he met his client on march 4 in Nairobi before he left for Kisumu the following day, and the pc recorded a stament about the threats on his life and family with PPO western province on march 8.

Potential witnesses in the post election violence have alleged increased torment and threats by potential suspects, forcing many of them into hiding for lack of state protection.

Kaunya was also the commandant of the Ap training school, where it is alleged the disputed results of the presidential poll were manipulated.

Its widely believed the planners and financiers of post election chaos fear the deputy PC is a vital source of information International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo requires to build up a firm case against the post election violence suspects.

Its interesting also to know that Kaunya was sent to Thailand when the Waki Commission was going round the country collecting information on post election violence.

Upon return he was sent on study leave at the national defence college (NDC) in Karen, Nairobi before he was redeployed in Kisumu as deputy Pc, even before graduating at the NDC.

But yesterday, the goverment appeared caught off guard, and even though its senior officers were dispatched to adress the media, it was clear that something unusual was going on that has indeed compromised the security of one of its senior officers.

END.