Do twins always have the same birthday?
By MUNGAI KIHANYA
The Sunday Nation
Nairobi,
27 August 2017
Margaret Wangeci is wondering whether
twins always share a birthday. One might think it’s a trivial question
until you read what she has in mind. She writes: “A pregnant woman gave
birth to two babies; the first one came out at 11.54pm of 31st
December 2016, the second one at 12.03am of 1st January 2017.
(1) Are they twins? (2) Are they age mates?
(3) Which year will
they claim? (4)
On which
date will they celebrate their birthday?”
The answer to the first question is
yes. They are twins because they are products of the same pregnancy. But
they are not the same age nor do they share a birthday.
As explained a few months ago, a day
begins at midnight and so the birthday of the first twin is 31st
December while that of the second one is 1st January. This
might become a challenge, for example, when registering in school.
If the rules are applied properly, the
first twin will register for primary school in 2023 while the second one
will have to wait 2024! This is because a child must be at least six
years of age to be registered.
However, considering how hectic things
are during baby delivery, it is unlikely that the personnel assisting
the mother will have the time to record the first birth before getting
started on the second one. Thus, in real practical terms, the two births
will most likely be recorded at around 12:30am on 1st January
2017. That date will become the joint official birthday of the twins.
***
After reading last
week’s article about fencing a plot of land, Simon Orucho asked me
whether I was certain about the number of poles needed to go round a
square plot measuring 200ft by 200ft. If they are placed 10ft apart, he
expected the number to be 79 and not the 80 that I stated.
In response, I
invited him to work out the number of poles that would be required to
fence a single, straight line boundary measuring 800ft with the same
10ft spacing. He got the correct answer: 81.
When fencing an open
fence (that is, one that does not fully enclose the plot of land) you
will need one extra pole to mark the end of the boundary. But when it is
a closed fence, the first pole doubles up as the last one as well. So,
instead of 81, we need only 80.
***
Now that we are done with the 2017
general election, it is important for the Independent Electoral and
Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to announce when the next one will be held.
As I have explained here many times, the correct date should be 17th
August 2021 (not 2022!)
If we really want a general election
in 2022, then we must amend the constitution to read “first Tuesday in
August
after every five years”
instead of the current “first Tuesday in August
in every fifth year”.
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