19-year-old drowns over GH¢120 race

• Posted on October 5, 2016
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

Dennis Yaw Ayamba, a 19-year-old man, has reportedly drowned in the River Densu at Akwadum in the New Juabeng municipality of the Eastern Region, during a swimming competition for a prize of GH¢120.

The young man – whose body had not been retrieved as at press time yesterday – and two others reportedly challenged one another and dived from the top of the bridge into the river.

According to the residents, Ayamba, a junior high school drop-out, failed to come out of the water after a third dive, raising suspicion that he had drowned.

The incident happened at about 3:00 pm on Monday. The prize of GH¢120 was said to have been contributed by the three young men.

The other two, who are yet to be identified, fled the scene when they suspected that their colleague had drowned.

Yaw Ayamba’s family members were alarmed when the news reached them and a group of young men were contracted to search for his body after a libation had been poured.

The team, made up of local swimming experts, was however, unsuccessful after hours of search.

Tuesday morning, the family members reported the incident to the Densu priest and traditional authorities in the town who demanded GH¢900, a bottle of Schnapps, a gallon of Akpeteshie [local gin], red chili pepper and Ga kenkey. An amount of GH¢500 was to be given to the traditional authorities while the balance of GH¢400 was to be given to the search party.

The family members told DAILY GUIDE that they did not have enough to readily pay all the money demanded and managed to pay the GH¢400 to the search party.

After a brief ritual, the search party undertook the assignment without any success.

FROM Daniel Bampoe, Akwadum