Faith, Controversy, and Loyalty: Remembering Mary Deya, Widow of Televangelist Gilbert Deya

End of an Era: Mary Deya’s Death Closes a Controversial Chapter in Kenya’s ‘Miracle Babies’ Saga

Mary Deya, the wife of controversial Kenyan televangelist the late Gilbert Deya, has died after a long life marked by faith, loyalty to her husband, and a scandal that drew international attention.

Gilbert Deya rose to prominence in the late 1990s while based in the United Kingdom, where he ran a church that attracted many followers from the Kenyan diaspora in London.

Through his ministry, he claimed that prayer could enable infertile women to conceive what he called “miracle babies.”

Couples struggling to have children travelled from Britain to Kenya believing they would return with babies through divine intervention.

Mary Deya played a visible role in this ministry. She worked closely with women seeking the so-called miracle pregnancies, often praying with them and coordinating visits to Kenya where the births were said to take place.

Investigators later alleged that some of the babies presented to the couples had been taken from poor Kenyan families or obtained through illegal arrangements in maternity facilities.

When authorities in Kenya and the United Kingdom began investigating the scheme, Mary Deya was charged alongside others linked to the operation. Kenyan courts eventually convicted her on charges related to child stealing connected to the miracle baby network, and she served a prison sentence.

The case became one of the most widely reported religious scandals linking Kenya and the UK, raising difficult questions about faith, desperation, and the exploitation of vulnerable families.