A Kenyan court acquitted a controversial self-styled preacher, Gilbert Deya, who claimed he could help infertile couples conceive “miracle babies” through prayer on Monday, citing prosecutors’ insufficient evidence.
Deya, a former stonemason who moved to London from Kenya in the mid-1990s, was accused of kidnapping five children between 1999 and 2004 in order to bolster his claims.
Senior Principal Magistrate Robison Ondieki found the 86-year-old not guilty, ruling that the prosecution had failed to present sufficient evidence to connect Deya to the charges.
Following a decade-long legal battle to remain in the UK, the preacher, whose Gilbert Deya Ministries had churches in London, Birmingham, Nottingham, Liverpool, and Manchester, was extradited from Britain to Kenya in 2017.
Deya and his wife Mary claimed that their prayers could help infertile and post-menopausal women become pregnant in four months with no sexual contact.
Prosecutors, however, claimed that the “miracle babies” were stolen, primarily from Nairobi’s poor neighbourhoods.
“The charges were trumped up and could not stand in a court of law,” Deya’s lawyer, John Swaka, said.
“He is delighted and very happy. He has no squabbles with anyone and will go back to serving the Lord.”
Deya’s claims first surfaced in a 2004 case, when a British coroner determined that a baby named Sarah, who died at the age of three weeks, was not related to either of her alleged parents.
The mother was told she was infertile and went to Nairobi, where she claimed to have given birth, but DNA tests revealed otherwise.
The case marked the first time in eight centuries that an English coroner was required to render an official decision on whether a miracle had occurred.
Deya claims that the United Evangelical Churches of America ordained him as an archbishop in 1992. He was a popular televangelist in Kenya before moving to Britain.
Kenya, a predominantly Christian country, has around 4,000 churches, some of which are run by self-styled pastors with no theological education.
The discovery of bodies linked to a Kenyan cult that practised starvation to “meet Jesus Christ” in April has raised concerns about the need for more regulation of religious organisations in the East African country.
So far, nearly 400 bodies have been discovered in Kenya’s Shakahola forest, with cult leader and self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie in police custody since mid-April.
Deya claims he was ordained as an archbishop by the United Evangelical Churches of America in 1992. He was a popular televangelist in Kenya before moving to Britain.
A predominantly Christian country, Kenya is home to around 4,000 churches, including some run by self-styled pastors with no theological education.
The discovery in April of bodies linked to a Kenyan cult that practised starvation to “meet Jesus Christ” has prompted questions about the need for more regulation of religious outfits in the East African nation.
Nearly 400 bodies have been found so far in the Shakahola forest in coastal Kenya, with the cult leader and self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie in police custody since mid-April.
