thank you for your responses......

yes being in Kenya does have its issues in terms of service. They havent dissambled the dash yet, to be honest i would rather they didnt because they will probably make it worse.

The creaking is most noticeable when there are side to side movements during driving. The problem just started occurring a few weeks ago after a service where they were looking at the front driveshafts..

could it be the clips holding the dash pad down to the metal frame? in any case, perhaps it does need disassembling.

do you think there may be another fix, that would be less invasive?

i will try removing the a pillar as smokey53 has suggested