Residents watched as the police recovered Kasule's body from the pond. (Credit: Nelson Kiva)

KIBOGA – Local police retrieved the body of a 25-year-old man from a fish pond after he reportedly drowned as he tried to draw water.

The pond, located at Nakayenga in Kiboga town council, belongs to government chief whip Ruth Nankabirwa.

Mulani Kasule, a resident of Kiwanguzi village, is said to have gone to the water body to collect water for a construction site nearby.

He was accompanied by colleagues, Isaac Banaada, who manages Nankabirwa’s businesses at Nakayenga including maize mills, told reporters.

Banaada said Kasule was undone trying to draw water from the deeper side of the pond rather than the shallow end where locals normally collect from.

A number of residents use the pond as a water source as some parts of the town do not access clean piped water.

Circumstances around which Kasule died are unclear.

Some witnesses who did not want to be named disclosed that he tried to swim for leisure before drowning soon later.

The pond is yet to be stocked with fish, said Nankabirwa’s political aide, Moses Sseguya. He added that the water mass will be fenced off from public access to avoid further such fatalities.

District police commander Hannington Busheija called on residents with ponds to fence them off to avoid similar scenarios.