On Tuesday morning, Archbishop Gilbert Deya left his Bondo home in Siaya County and travelled more than 60 kilometres to welcome new employees at his Kisumu hotel.
Little did he know that that first meeting with the recruits at the Diplomatic Business Nationwide Hotel would be his last.
After the meeting, the controversial preacher and his wife, Diana Kennedy Deya, decided to run a few errands in the lakeside city before embarking on their journey back home at 5 pm.
The couple offered a lift to a woman heading to Kombewa market, some 30 kilometres away, bringing the number of occupants in the vehicle to three.
“He was driving, I was beside him, and the lady sat in the back seat,” Mrs Deya, who narrowly survived the crash, told the Nation from her hospital bed at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH) in Kisumu.
The wreckage of Pastor Gilbert Deya's vehicle following the crash near Namba Kapiyo along the Kisumu-Siaya road June 17, 2025.
Photo credit: Rushdie Oudia | Nation Media Group
“The vehicle swerved near Namba Kapiyo before colliding with a university bus. There was a loud bang. Then everything went silent,” she said of the crash that involved three vehicles.
She said she regained consciousness in severe pain, surrounded by locals and screams for help.
Mrs Deya and the woman they had offered a lift to were rushed to Kombewa Sub-County Hospital for first aid before being transferred to JOOTRH for further treatment.
According to police, the accident involved a Toyota Fortuner, a Toyota Voxy driven by Mr Deya, and a university bus.
The preacher died at the scene from severe head injuries, according to a police report on the accident.
The report states his vehicle veered off its lane, hitting the bus and then the Fortuner, leaving 27 other people injured.
“The death caught us off guard at around 6pm. We found his body at Kombewa mortuary. His head was severely damaged and his stomach ruptured,” said Mr Deya’s younger brother Charles Onyango.
Charles Onyango Deya, brother to the late controversial televangelist Archbishop Gilbert Deya, speaks to the Nation at the family home in Bondo, Siaya County, on June 18, 2025.
Photo credit: Alex Odhiambo| Nation Media Group
Ms Kennedy, who sustained injuries on her back, arms and legs, described her husband as a God-fearing and devoted man.
Even though the couple was not blessed with a child, Mrs Deya was caring for the archbishop’s young daughter from a previous marriage.
“He was a loving husband and father to our three-and-a-half-year-old child. He loved preaching and bringing people closer to God,” she said.
Her sentiments were echoed by the preacher’s younger sister, Mary Atieno Nyawade, who claimed she was the one who introduced him to the word of God.
“I was the first person in our family to receive salvation, followed by our mother. Gilbert joined later and eventually became a pastor,” she said.
The 73-year-old preacher later founded Gilbert Deya Ministries and transitioned to online preaching, reaching hundreds of believers.
“There were so many falsehoods being spread about him but Gilbert was a true servant of God. We have never practised witchcraft in our family, my brother simply prayed for and healed members of his congregation,” Ms Atieno said.
Archbishop Deya rose to prominence and later infamy with controversial claims that he could help infertile women conceive through prayer.
In the early 2000s, the UK and Kenyan authorities launched investigations into allegations of child trafficking disguised as “miracle births” and “miracle babies”.
In 2004, a UK court found that the so-called “miracle babies” had been stolen from vulnerable women. His estranged wife, Mary Deya, was arrested and convicted, while Deya’s UK ministries were formally investigated in 2004 and 2016.
Following his extradition from the UK to Kenya, the archbishop turned to online ministry to reach his followers.
According to his wife, Deya conducted Sunday services via Zoom or pre-recorded sessions. In his free time, he travelled to inspect his hotels in Nairobi and Kisumu.
Born in 1952 at Nyaguda, Got Abiero village, Sakwa, Deya rose from modest beginnings to global recognition.
He was the first person within the Deya family to arrive in the village of Sakwa, Bondo, aboard a helicopter, an event remembered vividly by his nephew, Bishop Peter Aduogo.
“He was a man of God, unwavering in faith. He loved people but never compromised his beliefs,” Aduogo said.
Despite the controversies, Deya retained a loyal following. In his later years, he continued his online ministry and split his time between Sakwa (Bondo), Kisumu, and Nairobi.
“He never indulged in worldly pleasures; he dedicated his life to serving God,” said Mr Onyango.
The family is undecided on whether to preserve the body in Kisumu or move it to Nairobi, amid differing views from his children, all of whom live abroad.
“We await the post-mortem. Afterwards, we’ll decide whether to take the body to Kisumu or Lee Funeral Home in Nairobi,” said Mr Onyango.
As burial plans begin, family and followers remember a man whose life was marked by what they term unwavering devotion, ‘miracles’ and controversy.
