The self-proclaimed "Archbishop of Peckham" Gilbert Deya, who is at the centre of an investigation over claims he sold extra virgin oil to his congregation claiming it would cure cancer and Aids. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
British authorities were last evening investigating fraud allegations against Kenyan-born televangelist Gilbert Deya, who is accused of duping his congregation that he has a cure for cancer and Aids.
Should he be found guilty, the preacher could be extradited to Kenya, where he is wanted for child trafficking charges over the “Miracle Babies” saga.
Bishop Deya has in the past vigorously fought attempts by Britain to extradite him.
The controversial preacher was exposed by an undercover team from the British tabloid, The Sun, who after two months of investigations discovered that he was selling extra virgin olive oil as medication against the terminal diseases. They also discovered that was earning a fortune from charging for miracles.
Tottenham MP David Lammy — who has been campaigning for Mr Deya’s extradition — was among those who reacted angrily after the exposé, calling the preacher a “pernicious crook” who is “still running rings around the Home Secretary and the police”.
“We need action,” he told The Sun.
THE "ARCHBISHOP OF PECKHAM"
Mr Deya, 63, is the owner and founder of the Gilbert Deya Ministries (GDM), based in Peckham, South London.
The ministry claims to have over 34,000 congregants spread across Manchester, Liverpool, Reading and Crawley.
Photos published in the church’s website show the televangelist meeting Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip at an unknown date.
The UK’s Charity Commission, the body responsible for registering and regulating charities and churches in England, has confirmed that it has launched investigations into the ministry following the exposé.
The commission said it had concerns regarding the governance and financial management of GDM.
Bishop Deya now calls himself the “Archbishop of Peckham”. He claims to have anointed the olive oil, and advised journalists, one of whom posed as a cancer patient, to use the oil on her food.
“Don’t use any oil except this oil ... and the cancer will just disappear,” he is reported to have instructed the undercover reporter.
He then took the couple aside and performed a disturbing ritual which involved rubbing the oil on the woman’s chest, assuring her that this was the beginning of her miracle.
He also told her that she would be declared cancer-free on her next doctor’s appointment.
Mr Deya sells the “anointed” oil for the equivalent of Sh730 at his church in South London. The same costs the equivalent of Sh290 in London supermarkets.
Detectives are also investigating claims by Mr Deya that he can help women conceive miraculously, which is one of his trademark baits, and which landed him in trouble with Kenyan authorities before he fled to the UK.
One woman in London, The Sun reports, claimed to have given birth to four children at six-monthly intervals, meaning that all the four pregnancies matured during their second trimester.
Mr Deya’s son, Amos, allegedly asked the couple for a Sh100,000 “sacrifice” or “seed money” to pray for them to conceive, even suggesting that they could sell their car to raise the money.
During one of the church services, Mr Deya is also said to have urged his flock to call him before calling an ambulance or seeing a doctor because he could take care of the spiritual problems causing illnesses.
Such claims, which are common among dubious charismatic evangelists, are seen as a way of shifting the balance of power in favour of the preacher, who benefits from tithes and offerings from the desperate congregation.
In 2014, the London Crown Court acquitted Mr Deya of rape and sexual abuse charges on grounds that there was no sufficient evidence to support allegations that the preacher had raped one of his church members’ daughters.
The 12-member jury ruled that it could not conclusively find Mr Deya guilty of raping or attempting to rape Ms Sia Kellie between August and September 2013.
Mr Deya and his wife Mary shot to fame over a decade ago when the couple claimed that their prayers could cause infertile women to conceive and deliver miracle babies.
Mrs Deya was imprisoned for three years for stealing a baby on September 10, 2005 at the Kenyatta National Hospital, and for giving false information that she had given birth to the baby. She completed her jail term in September last year.
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