(JHS leaver drowns in swimming pool at Nungua)

A 15-year-old Junior High school (JHS) graduate, Daniel Bortey Borketey, died at a pool party at the Royal Majesty Hotel at Nungua, a day after he finished writing his Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
Borketey, a pupil of the St Joseph’s School and said to be about 4.6 feet tall, got drowned in a nine-feet swimming pool at the hotel which was formerly known as the Royal Ravico Hotel.
At the same time his friends were attending to another boy who had earlier on been rescued from drowning.
The pool party, which was organised by the Red Lyon Entertainment, an event organiser based in Nungua, was meant for final year JHS graduates who sat for the 2009 BECE.
The roll call of some prominent local artistes like, Kwaw Kesse, Tinny, Mzbel and ASEM, as well as some foreign artistes, advertised on the bill by the organisers, was said to have attracted a large number of BECE graduates to the pool party.
However, investigations conducted by the Daily Graphic indicated none of those artistes turned up for the event.
When the Daily Graphic contacted the police at the Kpeshie Divisional Headquarters, they confirmed the story and added that the body of the deceased had been deposited at the Police Hospital for autopsy.
According to the police, the pool party attracted JHS graduates from most of the schools in the Teshie-Nungua community , which was to start at 6:00pm till day break (TDB).
The police also alleged that some of the graduates were seen drinking alcoholic beverages, which they suspected to have been bought from a nearby drinking spot since the hotel did not serve such drinks.
The mother of the boy, Madam Ellen Borkwei Kalebi, told the Daily Graphic that she overheard her son telling his brothers that he was attending a party.
She said she asked him not to attend the party and instead asked him to wash his clothes which he had soaked .
Madam Borkwei explained that a few hours later at about 8:30 p.m., she had a call informing her about the incidence and immediately the decased sisters rushed to the hotel.
The sisters alleged that when Bortey was brought out of the pool, the organisers of the programme refused to take him to the hospital and rather asked those who knew him to do so.
She said sensing danger, the family members took him to the Christian Medical Centre at Nungua but doctors there referred them to the La General Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
According to Madam Borkwei, when she contacted the hotel manager, he denied that such an incident had occurred at the hotel.
When the Daily Graphic contacted the director of the hotel, he refused to talk to this reporter, and the staff members also declined to talk about the incident.
A number of people the Daily Graphic interviewed, referred to the organisers as people who only wanted to make money and called for a ban on such programmes, particularly for JHS graduates.
When the Daily Graphic contacted one of the organisers on telephone, he demanded to know the identity of this reporter after which he declined to comment on the incident, directing the reporter to the police.