{"id":211212,"date":"2024-08-20T04:54:35","date_gmt":"2024-08-20T04:54:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/08\/20\/experienced-swimmer-drowns-during-bet-at-national-irrigation-authority-dam\/"},"modified":"2024-08-20T04:54:35","modified_gmt":"2024-08-20T04:54:35","slug":"experienced-swimmer-drowns-during-bet-at-national-irrigation-authority-dam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/08\/20\/experienced-swimmer-drowns-during-bet-at-national-irrigation-authority-dam\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Experienced Swimmer&#8221; Drowns During Bet at National Irrigation Authority Dam"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-314839\" alt=\"\" width=\"799\" height=\"414\"  data-lazy- src=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/crime.jpg\"\/><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-314839\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/crime.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"799\" height=\"414\"  \/>A 25-year-old man drowned in Mwea Constituency, Kirinyaga County, on Sunday while attempting to swim across a National Irrigation Authority dam to win a bet against a friend. The tragic incident occurred around 6:30 p.m., leaving residents of Maisha Kamili in Ngurubani Town and Kamucege Village in shock.<\/p>\n<p>Kelvin Gitonga, a well-known swimmer, had reportedly bet a friend that he could swim from one end of the dam to the other.<\/p>\n<p>Witnesses reported that Gitonga, a boda boda operator in Ngurubani, was close to reaching the shore when he drowned. His friend, who had placed the Ksh.300 bet, disappeared shortly after the incident.<\/p>\n<p>Local resident Philip Njogu expressed disbelief, saying, <em>\u201cWe rushed to the dam as soon as we heard, but it\u2019s hard to believe Kelvin drowned. He was an experienced swimmer.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Another local, Kinyua Warui, recounted that Gitonga was confident he could complete the swim and was nearly at the shore when he encountered trouble. Warui noted that this was not the first time Gitonga and his friends had made such bets.<\/p>\n<p>Residents from Kamucege and Ngurubani have called on the National Irrigation Authority to fence the dam, highlighting that this is the second fatality in the area. Rice farmers, led by Tebere Unit leader Alex Nguo, have also urged for increased safety measures.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cThe dam was built to support rice farming during the dry season, but we need it fenced to prevent further tragedies,\u201d<\/em> Nguo said as quoted by <em>Citizen Digital.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Efforts to recover Gitonga\u2019s body continued late into the night with local divers and Wanguru Police Station officers on site.<\/p>\n<p>On Monday morning, the dam\u2019s water was diverted to nearby rice farms to assist in the search. Nguo added, \u201c<em>We are confident the body will be recovered so the family can give him a proper send-off.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A 25-year-old man drowned in Mwea Constituency, Kirinyaga County, on Sunday while attempting to swim across a National Irrigation Authority dam to win a bet against a friend. The tragic incident occurred around 6:30 p.m., leaving residents of Maisha Kamili in Ngurubani Town and Kamucege Village in shock. Kelvin Gitonga, a well-known swimmer, had reportedly [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":186007,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-211212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-kenya-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>&quot;Experienced Swimmer&quot; Drowns During Bet at National Irrigation Authority Dam - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/08\/20\/experienced-swimmer-drowns-during-bet-at-national-irrigation-authority-dam\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"&quot;Experienced Swimmer&quot; Drowns During Bet at National Irrigation Authority Dam - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A 25-year-old man drowned in Mwea Constituency, Kirinyaga County, on Sunday while attempting to swim across a National Irrigation Authority dam to win a bet against a friend. The tragic incident occurred around 6:30 p.m., leaving residents of Maisha Kamili in Ngurubani Town and Kamucege Village in shock. Kelvin Gitonga, a well-known swimmer, had reportedly [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/08\/20\/experienced-swimmer-drowns-during-bet-at-national-irrigation-authority-dam\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-08-20T04:54:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/crime.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"799\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"414\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ghana News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ghana News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/20\\\/experienced-swimmer-drowns-during-bet-at-national-irrigation-authority-dam\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/20\\\/experienced-swimmer-drowns-during-bet-at-national-irrigation-authority-dam\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ghana News\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5\"},\"headline\":\"&#8220;Experienced Swimmer&#8221; Drowns During Bet at National Irrigation Authority Dam\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-08-20T04:54:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/20\\\/experienced-swimmer-drowns-during-bet-at-national-irrigation-authority-dam\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":312,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/20\\\/experienced-swimmer-drowns-during-bet-at-national-irrigation-authority-dam\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/06\\\/crime.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Kenya News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/20\\\/experienced-swimmer-drowns-during-bet-at-national-irrigation-authority-dam\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/20\\\/experienced-swimmer-drowns-during-bet-at-national-irrigation-authority-dam\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/20\\\/experienced-swimmer-drowns-during-bet-at-national-irrigation-authority-dam\\\/\",\"name\":\"\\\"Experienced Swimmer\\\" Drowns During Bet at National Irrigation Authority Dam - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/20\\\/experienced-swimmer-drowns-during-bet-at-national-irrigation-authority-dam\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/20\\\/experienced-swimmer-drowns-during-bet-at-national-irrigation-authority-dam\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/06\\\/crime.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-08-20T04:54:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/20\\\/experienced-swimmer-drowns-during-bet-at-national-irrigation-authority-dam\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/20\\\/experienced-swimmer-drowns-during-bet-at-national-irrigation-authority-dam\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/20\\\/experienced-swimmer-drowns-during-bet-at-national-irrigation-authority-dam\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/06\\\/crime.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/06\\\/crime.jpg\",\"width\":799,\"height\":414},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/20\\\/experienced-swimmer-drowns-during-bet-at-national-irrigation-authority-dam\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"&#8220;Experienced Swimmer&#8221; Drowns During Bet at National Irrigation Authority Dam\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"Ghana mma provides breaking news, top stories in Ghana, Africa, business, entertainment, politics and more.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5\",\"name\":\"Ghana News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ghana News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/author\\\/ghanamma\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"Experienced Swimmer\" Drowns During Bet at National Irrigation Authority Dam - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/08\/20\/experienced-swimmer-drowns-during-bet-at-national-irrigation-authority-dam\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"Experienced Swimmer\" Drowns During Bet at National Irrigation Authority Dam - Ghanamma.com","og_description":"A 25-year-old man drowned in Mwea Constituency, Kirinyaga County, on Sunday while attempting to swim across a National Irrigation Authority dam to win a bet against a friend. The tragic incident occurred around 6:30 p.m., leaving residents of Maisha Kamili in Ngurubani Town and Kamucege Village in shock. Kelvin Gitonga, a well-known swimmer, had reportedly [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/08\/20\/experienced-swimmer-drowns-during-bet-at-national-irrigation-authority-dam\/","og_site_name":"Ghanamma.com","article_published_time":"2024-08-20T04:54:35+00:00","og_image":[{"width":799,"height":414,"url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/crime.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ghana News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ghana News","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/08\/20\/experienced-swimmer-drowns-during-bet-at-national-irrigation-authority-dam\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/08\/20\/experienced-swimmer-drowns-during-bet-at-national-irrigation-authority-dam\/"},"author":{"name":"Ghana News","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/#\/schema\/person\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5"},"headline":"&#8220;Experienced Swimmer&#8221; Drowns During Bet at National Irrigation Authority Dam","datePublished":"2024-08-20T04:54:35+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/08\/20\/experienced-swimmer-drowns-during-bet-at-national-irrigation-authority-dam\/"},"wordCount":312,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/08\/20\/experienced-swimmer-drowns-during-bet-at-national-irrigation-authority-dam\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/crime.jpg","articleSection":["Kenya News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/08\/20\/experienced-swimmer-drowns-during-bet-at-national-irrigation-authority-dam\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/08\/20\/experienced-swimmer-drowns-during-bet-at-national-irrigation-authority-dam\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/08\/20\/experienced-swimmer-drowns-during-bet-at-national-irrigation-authority-dam\/","name":"\"Experienced Swimmer\" Drowns During Bet at National Irrigation Authority Dam - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/08\/20\/experienced-swimmer-drowns-during-bet-at-national-irrigation-authority-dam\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/08\/20\/experienced-swimmer-drowns-during-bet-at-national-irrigation-authority-dam\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/crime.jpg","datePublished":"2024-08-20T04:54:35+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/#\/schema\/person\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/08\/20\/experienced-swimmer-drowns-during-bet-at-national-irrigation-authority-dam\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/08\/20\/experienced-swimmer-drowns-during-bet-at-national-irrigation-authority-dam\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/08\/20\/experienced-swimmer-drowns-during-bet-at-national-irrigation-authority-dam\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/crime.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/crime.jpg","width":799,"height":414},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/08\/20\/experienced-swimmer-drowns-during-bet-at-national-irrigation-authority-dam\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"&#8220;Experienced Swimmer&#8221; Drowns During Bet at National Irrigation Authority Dam"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"Ghana mma provides breaking news, top stories in Ghana, Africa, business, entertainment, politics and more.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/#\/schema\/person\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5","name":"Ghana News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ghana News"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024"],"url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/author\/ghanamma\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211212\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}