21,April 2019
By Star Reporter
The father of twins who found their look-alike sister after 19 years wants Kakamega County Referral Hospital to explain the paternity of the three children.
Richard Olukokha, 48, on Friday said he wants the county government to unravel the mystery surrounding the three children he says are all his.
DNA tests have been taken to confirm this “The children were put in the nursery after caesarian delivery,” he told the Star on the phone,Melon Lutenyo and Mevies Imbayi were later handed to their mother Rosemary Onyango,
Though she had earlier been informed during clinic visits that she expected triplets.
When she asked the nurses after delivery, they said the doctors might have been wrong about triplets.But Melon connected with Sharon Mathias through school.
This was after Olukokha, a boda boda operator in Kakamega, spotted Sharon in town and mistook her for his daughter Melon.“I was going to take tea at a local cafe last November when I spotted Melon and doubtlessly called her by her nickname,Dayo. She ignored me and moved on.
I called a second time and this time she told me I could not carry her on my motorbike by force. I asked her why she was ignoring me yet I was her father,” Olukokha said.
“She said I wasn’t her father.”
He added, “I parked my motorbike and called my wife to ask where our daughter was. She told me Dayo [Melon] had gone to Eldoret with a pastor for a church service but I insisted I was seeing her on the streets of Kakamega. She told me I was confused.
A student at Kongoni Friends Secondary where Melon goes met Sharon when they went for games to Shikoti Girls’ High School in Lurambi subcounty.
She saw Sharon and thinking she was Melon, confronted her claiming she had lied about being sick to avoid the function. only to be seen in Shikoti uniform.
Olukokha said a teacher from Kongoni then went to Shikoti with Melon after which they exchanged contacts and agreed to follow up.
“When they closed schools in December they contacted each other and Melon agreed to visit Sharon in Nairobi during April holidays. They travelled to Kangemi, Nairobi 10 days ago,” he said.
“When they got there, my sister in Dandora Estate called me and told me she was not letting go of Sharon because she was our blood.”
Sharon was raised by Angeline Amina in Kangemi.They then returned to Kongoni together with Sharon on Sunday to meet their parents.“People here are afraid that we may release Melon instead of Sharon to go back to Nairobi because they are identical, they have similar blood group, O+, just like me,” Olukokha said.
On Friday, Olukokha said the three children had been booked for counselling in Eldoret because they were confused about their paternity.
He said several artists were calling them, wanting to perform music or act in movies with them, which has confused them.“I am appealing to anyone to volunteer to finance a DNA test for the three girls to resolve this mystery. I have just heard from the media that Kemri is willing to sponsor the test but have not received official communication,” he said.
Olukokha said Amina has said that she will respect the outcome of a DNA test and has engaged a lawyer.
Kakamega Health executive Rachael Okumu said on Friday that the county government will cooperate with any government agency in resolving the mystery.
“We’re in the process of trying to establish the facts because since 1999 is quite a long time ago. I have asked my staff to extract records for that year and it must be remembered that the hospital was still under the national government,” she said.
Okumu said the records will tell who was on duty on the day of the girls’ birth.Melon and Melvis were born on August 15, 1999, at the while Sharon had been born at the same facility two days earlier.
Okumu said she had not heard of any case where children have been swapped at the hospital.
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