A 25-year-old man tragically drowned in Mwea Constituency, Kirinyaga County, while attempting to swim across a National Irrigation Authority dam on Sunday evening.
The man, identified as Kelvin Gitonga, was trying to win a Ksh 300 bet when the incident occurred around 6:30 p.m., leaving the residents of Maisha Kamili in Ngurubani Town and Kamucege Village in shock.
Gitonga, a well-known boda boda operator and skilled swimmer in the area, had made a bet with a friend that he could swim from one end of the dam to the other.
According to witnesses, he was close to reaching the shore when he suddenly drowned.
The friend who had placed the bet disappeared from the scene shortly after the tragic incident.
Residents of Kamucege and Ngurubani have expressed their concern over the safety of the dam, calling on the National Irrigation Authority to install fencing around it.
This marks the second drowning in the area, heightening fears among the local community.
Rice farmers, led by Tebere Unit leader Alex Nguo, have joined in urging for immediate action to enhance safety measures around the dam.
“We cannot afford to lose more lives. The authorities need to fence the dam and ensure such tragedies do not happen again,” Nguo stated.
Efforts to recover Gitonga’s body continued late into the night, with local divers and officers from Wanguru Police Station at the scene.
To aid the search, water from the dam was diverted to nearby rice farms on Monday morning, as the community and authorities worked together in the recovery mission.
