Nakuru officials want resort closed after graduate drowns
Mr Simon Mbugua, 27, who drowned in the swimming pool at Pilgrims Getawa Hotel in Nakuru on December 13, 2017 when he had gone to celebrate his graduation with his friends. Nakuru County health officials want the hotel closed. PHOTO | PETER MBURU | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Mr Simon Mbugua, 27, and his friend Moses Wangai drowned last week while they were swimming at Pilgrims Getawa Resort.
- Health officials said the pool water has not been changed since their death and it poses a health risk to other swimmers.
The resort was faulted for not having a pool attendant and lifeguards.
But the resort owner says the two men who drowned were drunk while swimming.
Nakuru County Government health officials on Tuesday said they would close the Pilgrims Getawa Resort, where two men drowned last Wednesday, over health and safety concerns.
Mr Simon Mbugua, 27, who had graduated last week with a Diploma from the Rift Valley Institute of Business Studies, located in Nakuru Town, drowned alongside his friend Moses Wangai while they were swimming in the resort’s pool.
DANGEROUS
The two and six other friends were celebrating Mr Mbugua’s graduation.
Their friends tried to rescue them but were unsuccessful. The resort did not have lifeguards.
Nakuru Public Health department officials inspected the swimming pool on Tuesday and said gave the directive for it to be closed as it was operating dangerously.
They, however, had not given an official notice of closure and the resort owner told the Nation that the county officials had not communicated to him about the closure.
HEALTH HAZARD
Njoro Sub-County Public Health Officer George Gachomba, who visited the facility on Tuesday, said that even after the two men died in the pool, the water had not been changed.
This is a health risk to other swimmers, he added, even as the health officials and journalists found children swimming in the pool.
Mr Gachomba said the resort would be closed until the owners meet all the health and safety requirements.
“The necessary safety measures must be taken to avoid putting swimmers’ lives at risk. After the drowning incident, the water ought to have been replaced with fresh water then treated several times before allowing other swimmers into the resort,” said the officer.
Mr Gachomba added that the pool was a critical area that needed attention from the management to ensure health and safety.
LIFEGUARDS
Ms Sally Ndiri, who works with the Kenya Life Saving Federation and had accompanied the county government officials, blamed the resort’s management for neglecting the pool.
“Nobody should be swimming here the way it is; the water is not visible…It should [also] have a pool attendant and a lifeguard,” Ms Ndiri observed.
She also described the health status of the pool as risky and endangering swimmers’ lives.
BLAME
The owner of the resort, former National Cohesion and Integration Commission member Rev Lawrence Bomet, blamed the swimmers for the tragedy.
As the officials were inspecting the hotel, he said the two men were swimming while drunk.
Rev Bomet said he had placed notices warning his clients to swim at their own risk, adding that it was not the resort’s fault.
“Some of them come with alcohol hidden in bags and drink before entering the pool – that was the situation with the two,” Mr Bomet told the Nation.
Families of the deceased have demanded justice for the deaths and blamed the resort for negligence.
Mr Mbugua’s father James Kanyutu, a guard at a local school in Nyahururu Town, urged authorities to punish the resort owner for negligence.
