The drowning of a-14-year-old boy in the Kwasu-Abena River has thrown the Fiapre community in the Sunyani West Municipality into a state of grief and mourning.

During a visit, Sompa FM learnt that the heartbreaking incident happened around 1500 hours on Wednesday February 4, when the deceased Matthew Mahama together with his five friends went to swim in the river along the Fiapre-Catholic University stretch.

The deceased friends attempted, but could not rescue the deceased, Sompa FM learnt. The incident had since spread like a wildfire as it remained the major topical issue in the town. Some officers of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) were informed and they retrieved the body from the river Thursday February 2026 around 0945 hours and the police had since deposited it at the Sunyani Teaching Hospital Mortuary for preservation and autopsy.

Mr Kofi Mahama, the father of the deceased told Sompa FM after the body was retrieved that the incident had left the family in emotional pains, and advised children to obey their parents. 

Nana Fosu Gyeaboa, the linguist of the Fiapre Traditional Authority said the community would perform some rituals to pacify the river, and asked contractors to always engage the chiefs and queens whenever they intended to execute community projects. 

Contractors working on a steel bridge and drainage system project on the river explained that the situation was worrying because many of the boys often swam in the river.

Mr Kofi Kankam, the Site Engineer of the Kofi Job Construction Limited, the project executors expressed condolence to the bereaved family and urged parents to monitor the movements of their children. 
Madam Fati Kine Lam, the Bono Regional Director of the National Disaster Management Organisation, asked the contractors to erect warning signs at the project site.

Sompaonline.com/Stella Kyere