Controversial preacher Bishop Gilbert Deya has sought to exonerate himself from the “miracle babies” scandal, saying the case against him was a smear campaign to tarnish his name.
In his defence before Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Robinson Ondieki, the once UK-based preacher said he had never been involved in any criminal activities.
“When I flew to Kenya, eventually l divorced my wife Mary (Deya) who had been arrested and charged over child theft and the miracle baby saga as my name had been tarnished all over,” he told the magistrate.
He added, however, that his ex-wife was eventually acquitted and her name cleared in a judicial process. However, Mrs Deya was jailed for three years .
Mary Deya when a Kibera court handed her three years for stealing a baby and giving false information to a doctor on January 28, 2011. On June 10, 2015, she chose to abandon her appeal and serve the remainder of the term.
Photo credit: File
“I’m equally innocent as l did nothing wrong. I’m just being persecuted. I urge this court to clear me of any wrongdoing,” Bishop Deya prayed to the court.
Led in his sworn evidence by lawyer John Swaka, Bishop Deya told the court that the case against him was far-fetched because “no single baby was produced in court to support the child theft racket charge” he is accused of.
The renowned preacher told the court that the criminal case against him for engaging in human trade was aimed at destroying the Gilbert Deya Ministries whose headquarters are in the UK.
He told the magistrate the theft charges against him were filed after a raid on his city residence where his wife was arrested with children she had allegedly stolen from the Kenyatta National Hospital.
The bishop said since 1995, he had not returned to Kenya since he was fearing for his life and was apprehensive he would not get justice in court.
As a consequence, he filed a suit in the UK where a Westminster court judge restrained the Kenya Government from extraditing him to stand trial over child trafficking offences.
“But how did you return to Kenya if there was an order restraining your extradition,” Mr Ondieki, the magistrate, asked Bishop Deya.
“Some papers that were allegedly forged by myself were sneaked into the court proceedings and therefore the court viewed me as a fraudster. I was then deported,” the bishop responded.
He said upon arrival in Kenya, he was arrested and detained in a police cell where in the morning he was “forced to carry my own urine and faeces in a bucket.”
Cross-examined by two state prosecutors, Nicholas Mutuku and Hellen Mutellah, the preacher said he had nothing to do with child trafficking and that no evidence linking him to the syndicate has been laid before the court.
Bishop Deya was put on his defence after Mr Ondieki ruled on September 22, 2023, that prosecutors had proved they have a strong case against him in the criminal trial that involves allegations that he had stolen five children two decades ago.
The magistrate said he was satisfied that a prima facie case had been established against the accused person.
“I, therefore, put him on his defence,” he ruled.
Mr Ondieki found Mr Deya with a case to answer in five counts of stealing five children, all aged under 14, between 2002 and 2004, in Mountain View estate in Nairobi.
The ruling came 11 years after a Kibera court convicted his wife, Mary Deya, and sentenced her to serve three years for stealing a baby on September 10, 2005, at the Kenyatta National Hospital and giving false information to Dr James Kiarie that she had given birth to the child.
Mr Deya, who claimed in televised sermons that he created miraculous pregnancies, faces five counts of child theft.
His trial started on August 4, 2017, after he was extradited from the UK.
Mr Deya allegedly committed the offence with others at Mr Deya’s house in Mountain View between May 20, 2002, and August 19, 2004. He denied the accusations and is out on a Sh10 million bond.
The trial magistrate will resume hearing the case on May 31, 2023, when Mr Swaka and Mr Mutuku will file final submissions before a judgement is rendered.
