Was it a case of a baby switch? If so, was it intentional and who was involved?/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 16 – All eyes are on the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) George Kinoti, following the outcome of a DNA test that confirmed the lookalike Kakamega girls are twins.
The DCI is expected to establish how it all happened in a Kakamega hospital back in 1999 and hold those culpable to book.
Was it a case of a baby switch? If so, was it intentional and who was involved?
These are some of the queries Kenya’s top detective is expected to find answers for, as he digs deep into a case likely to expose massive rot within Kenya’s health sector.
“We believe the forensic investigation will establish if any criminal act was committed or any mitigating circumstances that may have led to the present status. We encourage and appeal to the families concerned to please report to DCI office in Kakamega to facilitate investigations, ” the DCI said in April after the case went public.
The outcome released on Saturday by Lancet Kenya, corrected a two-decade mistake, by confirming Sharon Mathius and Melon Lutenyo are twins.
With 23 allelic loci tested, the outcome released by Lancet Kenya Laboratories Chief Executive Officer Dr Ahmed Kalebi shows that there was a 100 per cent match.
“Rosemary Khaveleli Onyango could not be excluded as the biological mother of the twins who have a compatible obligatory maternal allelic profile with a 99.999 per cent probability” reads the report.
According to the results, Rosemary Khaveleli Onyango is the biological mother of the twins.
The third girl, Melvis Imbaya who was raised by Onyango is not her biological daughter, with her DNA samples matching with those of Angeline Omina, the Nairobi lady who raised one of the twins separated at birth.
The twins first met on social media in April 2018 and would later meet in December the same year but only sought help in April this year, after months of confusion.
According to Dr Kalebi, this is not an isolated case which he attributes to negligence.
“It is a worrying trend. We have had at least four cases where parents were given a baby that was not theirs,” he said.
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