Born identical, marrying together

From left: Zachaeus Kavoi, Maurine Kimetu, Linet Kimetu and William Kavoi during an interview at Nation Centre in Nairobi. The two sets of identical twins are planning a joint wedding on December 7. PHOTO | BILLY MUTAI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • A remarkable story of twins who met twins and are now set to wed on the same day
  • Wishes granted as two pairs of twins meet and agree to wed on the same day

When identical twins Linet and Maureen Kimetu took a stroll on a playground in Machakos Town early in the year, another set of twins, William and Zacchaeus Kavoi, also stood out.

The two sets of twins bumped into each other, and the attraction, they say, was instant. Just like that, their hearts struck a chord and they decided they were not going to let that chance to build love go by.

That marked the beginning of a twin love story that will culminate in a twin wedding on December 7. The two sets of twins have resolved they are going to spend the rest of their lives together as couples.

When the 25-year-old Kavoi pair and 23-year-old Linet and Maureen Kimetu walk down the aisle on the same day, it will be the realisation of pairs of similar wishes.

“When we saw the girls, we remembered we had sworn to each other that we would never be separated, not even by marriage. We saw the chance to ensure that we would stay close to each other,” William confesses.

LIGHTNING SPEED

The boys moved swiftly. They asked for the girls’ numbers, setting the ball rolling for what has ended up in a wedding invitation being sent out in their names.

The brides-to-be share in the resolution of their husbands-to-be: “We have never been apart even for a day in our lives, so our prayer had always been that even in marriage, we would be together,” says Linet.

The Kavoi brothers work in a horticultural export company, while Maureen and Linet are business ladies selling clothes and offering hair dressing services on the side.

As they narrate their extraordinary love story to Living, Maureen and Linet confess that when they met William and Zacchaeus, they saw in them predestined spouses, and so they did not play hard to get.

“We met in January, got engaged in March, and now the date for the wedding is set for December … Pretty fast, huh?” says Maureen jokingly.

At first they would struggle to tell one another apart, but now they have each noted peculiarities that distinguish them.

William knows that his fiancée Maureen loves braiding her hair in lighter colours.

The pairs always giggle as the rest of the world struggle to tell them apart, sometimes playing tricks on people, especially when they are clad in the same types of clothes.

Maureen remembers an incident when someone asked how she and her fiancée could be so energetic during the arrangement of the wedding, not knowing there was another couple that looked exactly as she and William, also running around.

They say some of their friends have expressed concern that they are rushing into marriage, an allegation they respond to calmly.

“They were made for us, and we for them. So even in 50 years, they would still be the one,” Linet says matter-of-factly.

Zacchaeus explains their certainty further: “It is difficult for the world to understand how we were made, but everything for us is understood on another level that even we cannot understand.”

DIFFERENT PERSONALITIES

He adds: “I know when my brother is happy or in distress even when he is a thousand kilometres away from me. Now that Maureen is a part of him, I will perhaps understand her through him.”

Within themselves there is a language that is difficult for an outsider to decipher; a uniqueness that went into how they decided which one of the female pair would be the fiancée of which male twin.

Zacchaeus, the first of the Kavoi pair, is engaged to Linet, who was also the first of the Kimetu pair to see the world. Yet that arrangement was not deliberate:

“When we met, I was attracted to her, and my brother was attracted to Maureen... We only came to know of who was the first and who was the second as we were dating,” Zacchaeus says.

Because of different personalities, their friends had been worried there would be conflicts in their wedding arrangement. That hasn’t happened so far.

It could be because coincidentally, they share similarities in what they like. Linet and Zacchaeus like the colour purple, while William and Maureen love Purple and red.

“We will have a purple and red theme, and if there is any disagreement, we will talk it out and ask the person why there is any disagreement,” William says.

Born in Kangundo, William and Zacchaeus describe their childhood as normal.

“We would fight as would any children, but we always had each other’s back,” William says.

Born the second of a family of six children, the Kavoi pair had learnt virtues like generosity, sharing and compassion in the church.

Their religiosity would be very important in the choosing of the spouses.

“We were elated when we heard that they were both church goers,” William says of the Kimetu pair.

Linet and Maureen serve as ushers, and they are also in the praise and worship team in their local church.

As they grew up, the young men knew that in their similarities were very subtle but monumental differences between them.

Both, for instance, have different sets of grooms men for the wedding, while the girls only have one team of maids.

William, strict and outspoken, likes beef and chapati for a great meal, while quiet and reserved Zacchaeus prefers rice and beans.

PRIVATE MATTERS

With their similarities, the Kimetu-Kavoi household, Linet says, will not be boring because they too have “little uniqueness that make huge difference in their relationships”.

Linet says of herself: “I like interacting with people and putting a smile on their faces,” a trait she suspects persuaded her to join the music team in her church.

“I like looking after people,” Maureen describes herself thus, explaining further: “For a long time, I was in the Sunday school teaching children, and later when I became older, I joined the ushering team.”

Linet and Maureen are nonetheless aware that the step they are about to take will bring some changes to their once very close relationship, that may be uncomfortable, though necessary.

“I know there are matters that will remain private between me and my husband that she may never get to hear of,” Linet declares.

William and Zacchaeus are conscious of those differences too. “We will invest separately and probably grow our families differently,” he says.

As people marvel at what they are, the twins insist they are ordinary couples who met and fell in love like any other.