BORN A TWIN

BEYOND BORDERS: Meet Zanu and Zawu from Liberia!

By Walusungu Silweya

THEY share the same face, the same birthday, and the same burning desire to see Africa rise. But it is what Zunu K. Duyann and Zawu Y. Duyann have done with their individual lives and together that makes their story one of the most compelling coming out of Liberia today.

Born as identical twins, Zunu and Zawu have grown into two distinct pillars of national and international service, each carving an impressive path in fields as different as road engineering and food safety, yet somehow arriving at the same destination, a life dedicated to people, progress, and possibility.

The Duyann twins are not merely brothers. They are fellow graduates of the University of Liberia, where both earned their undergraduate degrees, and in an era when fully funded international scholarships remain rare gems, both brothers won competitive awards from the World Bank Group not once between them, but once each.

Zunu used his scholarship to pursue a Master's degree in Road and Transportation Engineering at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Accra, Ghana one of Africa's most prestigious technical institutions.

Zawu, meanwhile, crossed West Africa to the Federal University of Technology in Minna, Nigeria, where he earned a Master of Technology in Food Safety from the Africa Centre of Excellence for Mycotoxins and Food Safety, equipping himself with expertise critical to the health and livelihoods of millions across the continent.

Their journeys took them to different classrooms on different soils, yet their shared purpose kept them walking the same road.

There is one more detail that speaks quietly but powerfully to the symmetry of their lives, July 26th is both their wedding anniversary a date the twins share with their respective spouses, as though even love arrived on schedule for both.

Back home in Liberia, Hon. Zunu K. Duyann has taken his engineering credentials and parked them squarely in the service of his country.

He currently serves as Assistant Minister for Land and Rail Transport at the Ministry of Transport, Republic of Liberia, a role that places him at the intersection of national infrastructure and economic development.

In a country still rebuilding and expanding its transport networks, the work of someone with Zunu's training is not merely administrative.

It is transformative. Roads connect farmers to markets, patients to hospitals, and children to schools. Rail still an aspirational frontier in much of West Africa carries with it the promise of industrial possibility.

That a Liberian engineer trained at one of the continent's finest universities now helps steer that vision from within government is a quiet but significant triumph.

If Zunu's influence runs through the red earth of Liberian roads, Zawu's extends far across oceans and continents.

He currently sits on the Board of Directors of the International Council of Multiple Birth Organisations (ICOMBO), a body headquartered in Australia that advocates for the welfare of twins, triplets, and other multiples worldwide.

It is a role that connects his personal identity as a twin to a broader mission of care and recognition.

But Zawu's international footprint does not stop there. He also serves as Country Chair for International Collaboration, Africa, at Ishkama Global Change (IGC), an organisation headquartered in the United Kingdom focused on driving meaningful transformation across societies.

In that role, he is a bridge between Liberia and the global stage, channeling international partnerships into local impact.

Beyond their individual careers, Zunu and Zawu share a common institutional home in Liberia.

Both are senior officials of the Liberia Twins Care and Multiple Births Foundation, Inc., a foundation dedicated to supporting twins and multiple birth families in a country where such births carry both cultural significance and material challenges.

Their commitment to this cause is personal they are, after all, living proof of the joys and complexities of being born a twin.

Through this foundation, they have turned their shared identity into advocacy, ensuring that families raising multiples receive the recognition and support they deserve.

There is one more hat the Duyann twins wear together and it may be the most audacious of all. Both brothers serve as General Secretaries and ICT Directors of the Africa Twins Association (ATA), an organisation that speaks directly to their identity and their continental ambition. Their passion, they say, is for Africa and the world at large.

At a time when the continent's young people are increasingly stepping into leadership spaces not waiting to be invited, but building the tables themselves, the Duyann twins represent a generation that refuses to be defined by geography or circumstance.

One twin shaping the roads his country will travel. The other shaping the relationships that will carry Africa forward. Two faces. One vision.

Indeed, Liberia has long been a land of story and resilience. In Zunu and Zawu Duyann, it has something rarer still, a story still being written, by two brothers who seem determined to write it well.

Walusungu Silweya is a journalist and feature writer covering African leadership, development, and human interest stories.

Double Degree, Double Pride: Twins Conquer Uni!

WHEN Mweetwa and Mweemba Gamela walked across the stage at Nelson Mandela University this April, it was more than a graduation. It was double degree, double pride.

The Lusaka-born twins have done most things in tandem. First steps, first day of school, and now, first degrees. But their academic path shows how two people with the same starting line can choose different races and still finish strong together.

Mweetwa Gamela graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce in Economics. He lights up talking about markets, policy, and the thrill of untangling why economies behave the way they do.

“Economics taught me to ask ‘why’ five times before accepting an answer,” he says. His final-year research looked at how small-scale agriculture impacts youth employment in Southern Africa, a topic close to home.

His brother, Mweemba, chose a different route: Bachelor of Commerce in Computer Science and Information Systems. For him, NMU was about code, systems, and building things that work.

“I like that you can start with nothing but an idea and end with an app someone uses every day,” Mweemba explains. His capstone project was a logistics platform to help Zambian SMEs track inventory without expensive software.

Different majors, same 04:00 a.m. study sessions. The brothers shared a res for three years, swapping notes over instant coffee and holding each other accountable.

“If one of us slacked, the other wouldn’t let it slide,” Mweetwa laughs. “We’re competitive, but it’s the kind that pulls you up.”

Their parents, back home in Lusaka, watched the April graduation livestream. “Two gowns, two hoods, one very proud family,” their mother says. For the Gamelas, it really was double degree, double pride.

What’s next? Mweetwa is eyeing development economics and wants to work on policy that affects youth livelihoods. Mweemba has started freelancing as a developer and is tinkering with a fintech idea. They don’t have a joint business plan yet.

“Give us a year,” Mweemba says, grinning at his brother. “We’ve been a team for 20-something years. That’s not ending at graduation.”

Nelson Mandela University preaches “change the world” as a mantra. For the Gamela twins, the change starts with two distinct skill sets, one family, and a shared belief that the finish line is just another starting block.

Names to watch: Mweetwa Gamela, BCom Economics. Mweemba Gamela, BCom Computer Science and Information Systems. Class of April 2026.

By Walusungu Silweya
Born A Twin