Shoddy probe hands Deya wife sweet freedom

By Judy Ogutu

The wife of London-based Bishop Gilbert Deya has been cleared of charges of obtaining registration for five children irregularly.

Mrs Mary Juma Deya was all smiles as she strolled to freedom on Wednesday morning.

Nairobi Magistrate Dickson Onyango said the prosecution had failed to prove charges against Mrs Deya.

"It is important to note that in a criminal trial the burden of proof of charges against the accused rests entirely with the prosecution. I once more reiterate that suspicions however strong cannot be the basis for a conviction. Guilt must be proved by evidence," he ruled.

Mrs Deya initially faced five counts of stealing children but she was cleared after the court ruled that she had no case to answer, as "there was absolutely no evidence that she stole any of the children."

The court found that she had a case to answer in the five counts of obtaining registration for the five children.

It was alleged that she wilfully procured the registration of birth of the children at New Gathecha Estate Nursing and Maternity Home at Dandora Estate, Teso District Civil Registration Officers at Amagoro and Ochien Grace Medical Clinic and Maternity at Huruma Estate. According to the prosecution, the alleged offences were committed between May 21, 2006 and May 12, 2005.

The magistrate said from the evidence before court, Mrs Deya does not own or work at the two clinics.

"It is incredible how the accused who was supposed to be a mere patient would go to various clinics and get such crucial official documents without the collusion of others, assuming for arguments sake that she falsified the said documents," he ruled.

No complaint

Government analyst told the court that the accused and her husband Deya were not the biological parents of the five children.

A gynaecologist based at Kenyatta National Hospital examined Mrs Deya and concluded she had no signs of pregnancy. A community nurse who runs Gathecha Clinic and Maternity Home told the court that she did not give the accused any notification of birth unlawfully though she was charged and jailed for six months.

The court also heard that there was no complaint that any children had been stolen and the search for the stolen children was prompted by a story in The Standard newspaper.

It also emerged in court that 72 people claimed the children but DNA tests did not confirm their parentage. The biological parents are unknown to date.

The children were committed to a children’s home through a court order.

During trial, Mrs Deya maintained her innocence, saying the children whose birth certificates she allegedly procured by false pretence are her children.

She told the court when police visited her house she gave them the birth certificates.

Mrs Deya added that she was illiterate and could therefore not tell the children’s exact birth dates.

She claimed that police never took her blood samples and nobody has ever claimed she stole their child. She also denied procuring any registration by false pretence.

Mrs Deya told the court that police took eight children from her house and only returned three.

While acquitting her, the magistrate said crucial evidence on taking of blood samples of the children was never subjected to cross-examination.

He ruled that although blood of Gilbert Deya was allegedly taken and examined there was no record to show who took the sample.