What began as a heartwarming story in Kakamega has now turned into a painful chapter for two families still searching for answers.
The case of Sharon Mathias and Melon Lutenyo, identical twins separated at birth, once captured national attention for its rare twist of fate. But the happy reunion many celebrated has not brought the peace they hoped for.
From information we gathered, inspired by my earlier account of the events, the story traces back to 2018. Sharon, then a student, saw a Facebook profile of a girl who looked exactly like her — Melon.
The two first suspected fraud and exchanged harsh messages online. Curiosity later overcame doubt, and they agreed to meet in Kakamega town in December that year.
By then, both girls had been told countless times by teachers and classmates that they looked like each other. At a school music festival, Sharon’s presence confused Melon’s friends, who thought she was Melon.
They took her photo and showed it to Melon, fuelling speculation. In April 2019, both families agreed to take DNA tests. Lancet Kenya later confirmed a perfect genetic match between Sharon and Melon, proving they were identical twins.
The results also showed that Rosemary Khaveleli Onyango was their biological mother. However, the same test revealed that Mevis Imbaya, who grew up with Melon as her sister, was not related to Ms Onyango.
Instead, Mevis was the daughter of Angeline Omina and Wilson Lutah Maruti.The findings pointed to a baby mix-up at Kakamega Hospital in August 1999.
Ms Onyango recalled giving birth to twins via caesarean section on August 15. They were kept in an incubator for a week due to low birth weight.
Ms Omina had given birth a day earlier at the same hospital. Somewhere in those hours, the babies were switched.
The revelation shook the families. While they initially tried to build bonds, mistrust and unanswered questions soon emerged.
How could such an error happen? Was it accidental or intentional? No clear explanation was given, and no one took responsibility.
Today, the families live with the reality that nearly 20 years of shared memories were stolen from them.