Pastor Gilbert Deya Denies Involvement in Child Theft and Trafficking

Evangelist Gilbert Juma Deya has denied having been involved in the theft and trafficking of five children.

Appearing before Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Robison Ondieki on Wednesday, the preacher said the criminal charges brought against him by the State do not contain any evidence that the five children belonged to him.

Through lawyer John Sakwa, Deya said he was in the United Kingdom when the alleged offenses took place in Kenya in 2002, adding that he never gave authority to anyone to give the children his name or obtain birth certificates using his name.

He further told the court that his wife Mary Deya was charged with the same offense of child trafficking and after the trial, she was acquitted.

Deya added that despite the children being found in his house in Mountainview estate in Nairobi, he was not aware who brought them into the house.

The criminal case will proceed on March 13th when the prosecution will cross-examine his defense evidence.

Deya is facing five counts of child theft, where he is accused of stealing children aged 14 and below between 2002 and 2004 at Mountain View Estate in Nairobi.

The clergyman, who was deported from the United Kingdom in August 2017 to face child theft charges in Kenya, has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

In the first count, Deya is alleged to have stolen a child aged 14 years and renamed him Elijah Opiyo Deya. In the other four counts, the preacher is accused of renaming four children Miriam Adondo Deya, Naomi Gilbert Deya, Ruth Akello Deya and Joshua Gilbert Deya.

In evidence adduced in court by the prosecution, an old couple narrated how they delivered five miracle babies following prayers by Deya and his wife Mary who were attached to the Deya Ministries. The couple indicated that the kids were born at Lucy’s Medical Clinic, Huruma Ngomongo Clinic and Gatecha Clinic in Dandora.

But a DNA report from the government analyst dated April 14th, 2005, and which was tabled in court concluded that Deya and his wife Mary were excluded as the biological parents to the five children.
 
The prosecution also tabled evidence showing how Deya fraudulently obtained the birth certificates of the five children from three medical facilities.