Nairobi, March 22 -- Last Sunday, at 11 minutes past noon, I received a 48-second phone call from my colleague Melita Oletenges. I answered the call and asked him if he was preparing to anchor the 1pm news bulletin.

He replied by asking me, "Which bulletin?" He had checked the system and there was no news rundown, so he asked me to look for Rita Tinina, who was supposed to be producing the bulletin.

I asked him to look for her at her desk. Or maybe give her some minutes as she was probably walking round the newsroom. I had nothing to doubt that she was not in the office, because she was a very punctual person.

Something told me to call her immediately and my two calls went unanswered. It was now 12.13pm. That's when I knew all was not ...