Alex Chamwada in Liverpool
27 March 2005
Nairobi — Pastor Benjamin Mensa, who has been heading the Gilbert Deya Ministries in Manchester, has resigned.
Mensa, a Ghanaian, declined to divulge the reasons for his resignation but told The Sunday Standard that his "commitment to spreading the word of God is intact".
However, there seems to be no love lost between Mensa and the founder of the ministries, Pastor Gilbert Deya. In a telephone interview, Deya said Mensa's departure was "good riddance as he had been a disgrace to the Church".
"We are not shaken at all by his departure," said Deya whose ministry came to the limelight last year when his wife, Mary Juma Deya, and a follower were charged with stealing a baby from Pumwani Maternity Hospital.
Speaking from the Manchester Church, Deya said he would pastor the institution and "steer it to prosperity". Asked to respond to the comments, Mensa said: "I'm not interested in fighting wars through litigation."
I'm a man of God and there is nothing to worry about."
Deya Ministries' other branches are in Liverpool, Nottingham and Birmingham. Deya's son, Amos, heads the Birmingham church while Pastor Daniel Kavuma, a Ugandan heads the Liverpool branch.
Deya said the ministries' accounts have not been frozen contrary to media reports.
"What is happening is that we are required to explain our monthly bills and transactions to the Charity Commission as they are investigating us. We are paying all our monthly bills through direct debit," he explained.
Deya said his church was accountable, 'unlike in Kenya where pastors pocket all the money".
Members of the church recently received letters indicating Deya had "won the war against the media".
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2005 The East African Standard. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
