Gilbert Deya, the controversial Kenyan televangelist known for his claims of creating “miracle pregnancies,” has died in a tragic road accident near Kisumu in western Kenya. The accident occurred on Tuesday evening and involved a university bus, Deya’s vehicle, and another car.
Police confirmed that Deya died on the spot. At least 30 people were injured in the crash, including his wife and a passenger in his car, as well as 15 students from the university bus. Siaya County Governor James Orengo described the crash as “horrific” and expressed his “deep sorrow and regret” over Deya’s death, confirming that one of the vehicles involved belonged to the county.
Images circulating online show the mangled wreckage of the vehicles involved, underscoring the severity of the impact.
Deya, 72, rose to prominence in the early 2000s after claiming he could help infertile women conceive through prayer. His church, Gilbert Deya Ministries based in the UK attracted a large following, especially among vulnerable women desperate for children. However, investigations later revealed that the so-called “miracle babies” were allegedly stolen from poor families in Kenya and passed off as divine conceptions.
In 2017, after a decade-long legal battle, Deya was extradited from the UK to Kenya on child trafficking charges. He was acquitted in 2023 due to lack of sufficient evidence. His wife, Mary Deya, had previously been jailed in 2011 after being found guilty of stealing a baby and falsely claiming it as her own.
Deya was a former stonemason who reinvented himself as a charismatic evangelist. He was consecrated as an archbishop in 1992 by a U.S. evangelist and went on to establish churches in the UK and across Africa. UK authorities, however, repeatedly investigated his operations, including the sale of olive oil falsely marketed as having healing powers.
The late MP David Lammy, now UK Foreign Secretary, once described Deya as a “modern-day snake-oil salesman who has conned and betrayed his vulnerable congregation.”
Despite legal troubles and criticism, Deya maintained his innocence and continued preaching until his death.