Tears of joy as Stephen Munyakho returns home after 14 years on death row in Saudi Arabia

There were emotional scenes at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) on Monday morning as Stephen Munyakho, also known by his Muslim name, Abdulkareem, finally reunited with his family after spending 14 years behind bars in Saudi Arabia.

Munyakho, dressed in a crisp sky-blue shirt and navy trousers, stepped out into the arrivals area shortly after touching down from Riyadh.

His eyes welled with tears as he spotted his family waiting. But it was the tight embrace between him and his mother that silenced the terminal, a moment of unspoken pain, love, and joy captured in photos now circulating widely online.

The last time the two saw each other was in 2011, the year Munyakho, then working in Saudi Arabia as a warehouse manager, got into a deadly altercation with a Yemeni colleague. The man later died from his injuries, and Munyakho was initially sentenced to five years for manslaughter.

That sentence would later be upgraded to the death penalty, by beheading, after the case was appealed and reclassified as murder.

For over a decade, his fate hung in the balance. But a breakthrough came when the deceased's family agreed to accept diyya (blood money), a provision under Sharia law that allows for compensation instead of execution.

Earlier this year, the Kenyan government, in collaboration with the Muslim World League, raised KSh129 million to pay the diyya.

Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi personally intervened, writing to the Saudi Foreign Minister to plead for clemency. His efforts were instrumental in stalling and ultimately halting the execution.

After his release from Shimeisi Prison in Mecca, Munyakho was allowed to perform Umrah (a minor pilgrimage), a spiritual experience he had long hoped for.

He was later transferred to a deportation centre before finally receiving clearance to return home.

At JKIA, officials from the Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary ensured his safe handover to family. What followed were scenes of jubilation and tears, with Kenyans online describing the moment as "divine justice."

Now back on home soil after years of torment, Munyakho begins a new chapter, surrounded by those who never stopped believing he'd return.