Kenyan televangelist Gilbert Deya, known for his controversial claims of miracle pregnancies, has died in a road accident.
Local media reported Deya’s death on Tuesday evening near Kisumu, western Kenya. His vehicle was involved in a collision with a university bus and another vehicle. The accident resulted in at least 30 injuries, including his wife, a passenger in his vehicle, and 15 students on the bus.
Deya, who led a London-based church, gained notoriety in the early 2000s for his claims of facilitating “miracle” pregnancies through prayer. Subsequent investigations linked his ministry to alleged child trafficking, leading to his arrest and extradition from the UK eight years ago after a protracted legal battle.
He was acquitted of those charges in 2023 due to insufficient evidence. Siaya County Governor James Orengo expressed sorrow at Deya’s passing, confirming the accident involved a county vehicle.
Online images depicted the extensive damage to one of the vehicles involved. Deya, formerly a stonemason, relocated to London in the mid-1990s, establishing Gilbert Deya Ministries, a registered charity with branches across the UK and Africa.
His charismatic preaching style and self-proclaimed archbishop status (conferred by a US evangelist in 1992) drew a large following. However, his ministries faced multiple investigations for alleged mismanagement and legal violations, including the sale of purportedly healing olive oil.
Former UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy once described him as a “modern-day snake-oil salesman.” His church allegedly convinced infertile women, some post-menopausal, that prayer would result in pregnancy. The “babies” were reportedly obtained from Nairobi clinics and, according to prosecutors, stolen from impoverished families.
In 2011, his then-wife, Mary Deya, was jailed for baby theft. Deya later claimed they divorced after her conviction, citing damage to his reputation. Recent videos from Gilbert Deya Ministries’ YouTube channel indicated he had remarried, to Diana Deya.
A 2014 BBC investigation questioned the DNA discrepancies between the “miracle” children and their alleged parents, to which Deya responded that it was “beyond human imagination” and a matter of divine intervention.
Following his 2023 acquittal, Deya continued his religious work until his death, reportedly at the age of 72.
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