The body of a man and his vehicle have been recovered from the Likoni channel, Kenya, following an accident where his car plunged into the ocean at 4:20 am local time on Saturday morning. Police and family members have identified the sole occupant of the vehicle as John Mutinda, 46.

According to a statement issued Bakari Gowa, the Managing Director of the Kenya Ferry Services (KFS), the driver attempted to avoid the toll station and drove into the loading area from the wrong side of the road. Attempts to were made by ferry staff to stop him but he proceeded to drive at top speed off the ramp and into the ocean.

Multi-agency rescue efforts by the Kenya Coast Guard, the Kenya Ferry Services, the Kenya Navy and the Police were launched immediately. The body of the deceased was subsequently recovered at 9:30 am on Saturday morning and transported to the Coast General Hospital Mortuary by police. Retrieval efforts continued thereafter, resulting in the retrieval of the vehicle from the channel at 12:00 pm.

The accident comes barely three months after a woman and child tragically drowned in a separate accident when their vehicle reversed while on a ferry and sank into the channel mid-transit.

Tropical cyclone Pawan has made landfall on Saturday morning, affecting the northeastern part of Somalia as predicted earlier in the week.

The storm hit the coastal city of Eyl in the Nugaal region, bringing with it heavy rainfall and turbulent winds. The town has borne the brunt of the storm, with locals reporting of fishermen’s boats capsizing off the coast and a cell tower belonging to Golis Telecom falling and causing damage to adjacent buildings.

A forecast issued by the Somali Water and Land Information Management (SWALIM) on Tuesday warned of heavy rainfall and strong winds over the north and central parts of the Horn of Africa country over the course of the next few days.

Elsewhere in Puntland state, the regional government delayed all flights leaving Garowe airport as a result of heavy rains and floods, by-products of the cyclone. There have also been local reports of 2 vehicles being swept away near Bossasso.

The storm is expected to decline in intensity as it moves inland.

The students of the Njoro main campus of Egerton University, an institution based in Nakuru County, Kenya, went on a rampage on Wednesday morning in protest of a decision by the administration to bar any students with fees arrears from sitting for the exams scheduled to commence on Thursday.

According to student leaders, over 5000 students were at risk of getting their studies deferred to the next academic year starting September 2020 for failure to pay the requisite fees before the set deadline.

The protesting students engaged riot police in running battles who lobbed teargas in an attempt to disperse the crowd who are alleged to have destroyed campus property. The students accused the police of firing live rounds: Several students collected shell casings on the campus grounds, alleged to have been fired by the police sent to quell the protests.

The main campus in Njoro, as well as the Nakuru town campus, were subsequently closed indefinitely and students ordered to vacate the premises by 2:30 pm on Wednesday.

These protests and campus closure follow that of other public universities (Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Maseno University and Kenyatta University) over similar issues in the last few months.

The university administration did not respond to requests for comment at the time of going to print.