In his heyday, he presented himself as a chosen one. A televangelist who could order pregnancy into the wombs of women and cure HIV/Aids and cancer through a special anointing oil, according to his script.
He was the man who claimed he could help infertile women to bear children. In the process, he managed to lure several women who believed he could be their saviour to become his followers.
While some claim he defrauded them of their hard-earned money by issuing false promises of miraculously transforming infertile wombs, his family, friends, and allies believe he was a proper man of God.
Unlike other televangelists who coined biblical names as the titles of their churches, Deya was different. He personalized his ministry and coined the moniker of his church in his name, Bishop Gilbert Deya Ministries.
But the last few years have been rough for the late preacher. His list of followers had been declining and threatening to crumble his religious empire.
The Nairobian has established that at the time of his death in a grisly road accident two weeks ago in Seme, Kisumu County, Deya was a man re-adjusting to village life after several personal losses.
Although he had managed to successfully battle the child trafficking cases that had threatened to crumble his empire, the damage the negative publicity had done to his church was an open secret.
A former follower of Deya recounted to this writer how the man who once promised women miracle babies struggled to keep worshipers in his ministry.
“He had suffered personal losses but was keen to rebuild his ministry and kept a close circle of friends to help him rebuild, “ said the follower.
According to some of his church followers, despite losing several members of his church, he was still a revered preacher who offered hope to his congregants.
“He had retreated back home in Siaya and had dedicated his life to giving back to his village. To us, he was very humble and continued to give us hope in life even when he was battling endless court cases,” says a church follower.
A close family member told The Nairobian that the preacher had parted ways with his wife, Mary Deya and married Diana.
Diana survived the accident that claimed the life of Deya two weeks ago in Seme. She is still recuperating after the incident.
According to Bishop Ogonyo Ngede, a close ally of Deya, burial plans are at an advanced stage to give the clergyman a decent sendoff. He said they were yet to agree on the burial date and are still fundraising for the burial.
A number of his church followers recalled how the man who once lived large and even attracted Europeans to his church services retreated to a low profile life after successfully battling a potential career-ending case.
Treated badly
“He has been adapting to a new life after the cases almost destroyed his ministry. Despite the claims, he was a good man who cared for his flock,” said the church member.
Another church member who only identified herself as Marie claimed that their bishop was treated badly while he was alive and was persecuted for helping people.
His family said the controversial televangelist died a free man. The preacher’s son, Amos Deya and lawyer John Swaka, who spoke at the Lee Funeral home, said that he had been acquitted of all the cases that he was facing by the time he died.
“I want the entire nation to know that Bishop Deya was fully acquitted,” said Swaka.
But Deya was not your ordinary bishop. He was a man of claims and an overpromiser.
He had a long-standing contentious relationship with the government, facing child trafficking charges in court. He often dismissed these charges as a political witch hunt.
The self-proclaimed miracle babies producer is also accused of running a smuggling ring that is involved in, among other crimes, stealing infants. He had also faced sex related offences in a London court.
In the UK, he was accused of working with an associate to dupe potential followers that he could overcome illness and debt.
Born on February 2, 1937, in Juja, Kiambu County, Gilbert Juma Deya was the 11th of 15 children. His early life was marked by poverty, with his father working as a sisal plantation labourer.
He was a weak learner who dropped out of school at Class Seven with D minus in all three subjects -- English, mathematics and the General Paper.
He started preaching in Jinja, Kampala, in Uganda, where he beat up a woman for hitting the children of his sister and worked there as a porter.
Deya was ordained by the United Evangelical Church of Kenya and he became a charismatic evangelist in the late 80s and early 90s before he moved to the UK in 1997 to establish the Gilbert Deya Ministries.
Divorce
In past interviews, Deya said his decision to move to the UK was motivated by a “call from God” and “hostile political environment” he faced in Kenya.
In 2006, Deya hit headlines in Kenya and beyond when he was accused of stealing babies with the help of his wife, Mary.
He was sought for allegedly stealing five children from Pumwani Maternity Hospital, and giving false promises to infertile women, claiming he could help them bear children through the use a miracle oil and divine intervention.
In 2018, Deya pleaded innocent and pointed an accusing finger at his wife, for the troubles which include five counts of stealing five underage children in five years from a house in Nairobi’s Mountain View Estate.
Deya, then sought divorce from the woman he married when he was 22, she 14. He was extradited on August 8, 2017, and after cooling government porridge for ten months at Kamiti, he was released on a Sh10 million bond.
“I have never been part of the miracle baby saga. My wife was in Nairobi, I was in London. She told me that she had miracle babies. I wasn’t there to see or prove if it’s true,” said Deya at a past interview with The Nairobian.
“She even got pregnant and delivered a baby when I was in London. I don’t know if she cheated on me or it was another miracle baby...How can I be responsible for something that happened in Kenya when I was in the UK,” added Deya.
Later, he was also accused of sexually abusing different women in London, but was acquitted of the charges.
In 2023, Deya was acquitted after the prosecution failed to prove that he stole five children two decades ago. The self-styled pastor was extradited from the UK in 2017, after his decade-long legal battle to remain failed.
Head-on collision
On June 17, 2025, Deya died while travelling home.
According to Nyanza region Traffic enforcement officer Peter Maina, Deya died in a road accident involving three vehicles at the Namba Kapiyo area on the Kisian-Bondo road.
At the time of the accident, Deya was driving his Toyota Noah with his wife and another female passenger on board.
Maina said Deya lost control of his vehicle and collided with a Moi University bus heading towards Kisumu. The bus, in an attempt to avoid a head-on collision with Deya’s car, overturned, injuring at least 28 students. A Toyota Fortuner from Siaya County, heading towards Kisumu, was also involved in the accident.
“We had a fatal accident involving three vehicles. A Toyota Fortuner belonging to the Siaya County government, a bus, and a Toyota Noah at Namba Kapiyo area along Kisian-Bondo road,” Maina said.
“The Noah driver lost control of his car and hit the bus. The bus driver attempted to avoid a head-on collision, and in the process, it fell. In the accident, we have lost the Noah driver, he was carrying two passengers, his wife and another who has been slightly injured,” the traffic officer added.
Out of the 31 victims involved in the June 17, accident, three students sustained serious injuries and are currently receiving treatment at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital in Kisumu, where they were transferred from Kombewa Sub-County Hospital in Seme.
The remaining victims are being treated at Kombewa Sub-County Hospital, with 15 suffering serious injuries.
Bishop Deya’s body was moved to Kombewa Sub-County Hospital by the police, according to the traffic boss.
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