On Tuesday morning, Archbishop Deya left his home…
…with no idea it would be his final departure.
The air was calm, the skies indifferent — just another ordinary morning. The Archbishop, once a towering figure in Kenya’s televangelism scene, was behind the wheel of his Toyota Noah. With him were two female passengers. Where he was headed remains unclear, but what is certain is that he never made it.
On the road near Kisumu, fate intervened with brutal force.
A tragic collision involving his vehicle, a Moi University bus, and an SUV tied to the Siaya County Government left over 30 people injured — some severely. But for Archbishop Gilbert Deya, the journey ended there. He succumbed to his injuries shortly after, despite efforts to rush him to hospital.
His death comes not in the glare of media cameras or from the pulpit where he once commanded thousands — but on a public road, in the quiet company of strangers, far from the controversy and courtrooms that once defined his name.
Gilbert Deya was a man both revered and reviled. His life story was stitched together by miracles and allegations, fame and court battles. He had survived extradition, endured public scrutiny, and even saw vindication in a 2023 acquittal. Yet death came with no respect for reputation — humbling him, as it does all men, in its final blow.
Now, Kenya reflects.
Some remember him as a spiritual force, others as a man of controversy. But on that Tuesday morning, he was simply a 68-year-old man on the road — vulnerable, mortal, and unaware that his last breath would be taken away from the pulpit, in a place where sermons give way to sirens.
This World is not our home. We are here today and tomorrow we are gone.
