Kenyan MP Peter Salasya Nearly Drowns in a Swimming Pool in South Sudan

Mumias East MP Peter Salasya has recounted the near-death experience during the just-concluded East African Inter-Parliamentary Games in Juba, South Sudan.

The first-time MP said he nearly drowned in a swimming pool on November 29th after ignoring a warning against proceeding to the deep end as he is not a good swimmer.

Salasya, who was participating in the athletics competitions, said the most he had experimented with water sports before was “just playing with water like a cat does.” 

“The manager warned me not to proceed beyond the shallow end but my curiosity could not let me stay put,” he said.

The MP added that he got excited and found himself in the deep end, struggling to get back to the other side of the pool.

“I could not see above the water, I could not breathe or shout or do anything. It was like; ‘Oh my God!’ today is the end of me,’ I discovered that you cannot just walk to the wall of the pool which is what I thought as I went in,” he added.

Salasya said he could have drowned were it not for two women at a nearby massage parlor within the facility, who called a Sudanese man to rescue him from the water. He said the incident lasted nearly four minutes, after which the rescuers administered first aid.

“Had it gone to something like seven minutes, it would have been tough for me,” Salasya said.

In a social media post, the MP ruled out the possibility of him returning to the pool ever again. “I was almost dead in a swimming pool, but I was rescued. I will never go back to a swimming pool. If you can’t swim, please don’t dare go into that thing…I will continue serving God. It was by His grace I can see this day.”

Salasya was elected on a Democratic Action Party-Kenya (DAP-K) party ticket in the August 9th election after unsuccessfully vying for the same seat in 2017.