Kenyan national Stephen Munyakho, who had been facing execution in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is finally set to return home after the government and various stakeholders successfully secured his release.
Munyakho, who had been imprisoned since 2012, was required to raise Ksh150 million as diyya (blood money) to compensate the family of his alleged murder victim, a Yemeni national.
Failure to raise the amount would have resulted in his execution. Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Kipkorir Sing'Oei confirmed the development in a statement on Tuesday, revealing that Munyakho had been released following the fulfilment of the court-ordered compensation. "Steve Abdukareem Munyakho, the Kenyan national who has been on death row in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is free as of 10am today pursuant to the full satisfaction of judicial decree," Sing'Oei stated.
Veteran journalist Dorothy Kweyu (left) and her son Stephen Munyakho.
