On Thursday televangelist Gilbert Deya complained to the court that the authorities had ignored a deal to detain him in a self-contained cell and instead locked him up in a filthy dungeon with 11 convicts.
Bishop Deya protested at the conditions at Kamiti Prison and accused the Government of not honouring an agreement between the British government and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) that he be accorded special treatment while in prison.
“There was an agreement that he be given a special single room to himself but when he was taken to Kamiti, he was locked in an extremely dirty room with 11 other people. The room is full of insects which have been biting him ever since,” his lawyer, John Swaka, told Chief Magistrate Felix Andayi.
Deya cut a dejected figure, showing how his circumstances had changed in only six days from high-flying bishop of the Gilbert Deya Ministries in South London to an in inmate in the dingy cells of Kamiti Prison, rubbing shoulders with some of the country’s hardcore criminals.
According to Deya, the jail conditions compelled him to fight extradition to Kenya since 2004, whe his ‘miracle babies’ scandal was exposed.
He complained that he had no access to a washroom and that the wardens only gave him a bucket to relieve himself. He produced the bucket he said he has been using in the prison cells to court as evidence.
“He stays with the waste bucket in his locked room throughout the night and in the morning, he is forced to wash it with his bare hands without soap or any detergent. When he complained, the officer in charge of the prison told him they could do nothing about it,” said his lawyer, who argued that the conditions Deya has been subjected to do not reflect the agreement that he be treated with dignity while in detention in Kenya.
However, senior assistant DPP Nicholas Mutuku denied knowledge of any such arrangement. He told the court that if Deya was not satisfied with the treatment, he should raise the matter when the hearing of the case begins.
The magistrate said he could not do much to address the situation, only that the authorities should try to ensure that the cells meet international standards for prisons.
Deya said he was ready for the trial and was confident he would be proven innocent.
“Mr Deya is ready and not scared to face his accusers. He is ready to fight this case to the end and has no intention of leaving the country. He fought his extradition case in the UK for 12 years without fleeing. He is here to fight this case until the end to prove his innocence,” said the lawyer.
Deya has been charged with five counts of stealing five underage children between 1999 and 2004 before fleeing to London.
In count one, he was said to have stolen a child aged 14 years and renamed him Elijah Opiyo Deya between May 2002 and August 2004.
He allegedly stole a second child and renamed her Miriam Adondo Deya. The third was renamed Naomi Gilbert Deya the fourth Ruth Akello Deya. Another child was named Joshua Gilbert Deya.
The magistrate will rule today whether to release Deya on bail.
