Stephen Munyakho recounts 14 years on death row in Saudi Arabia after stabbing colleague

After spending 14 harrowing years on death row in Saudi Arabia, Stephen Munyakho is finally home, and his chilling account of how one workplace quarrel turned fatal is a gripping reminder of how quickly life can spiral.

Munyakho opened up about the day everything changed. A salary dispute between Munyakho and his Yemeni colleague, Abdul Halim. The two worked together in an office handling stationery, and tensions had been brewing.

“It was a salary-related dispute,” Munyakho explained during a TV interview. “I was supposed to go and collect my pay, but Halim refused to let me leave the office. He used words that weren’t very kind, and I just lost it.”

That verbal exchange quickly exploded into violence.

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According to Munyakho, Halim pulled out a knife, one they used in the office to open cartons, and stabbed him in the thigh and hand. Munyakho was rushed to the hospital, bleeding heavily.

“I lost a lot of blood. I was given two pints of glucose in just seven minutes between the residence and hospital. Doctors told me if I had delayed, I wouldn’t have made it,” he recalled, still visibly shaken.

But what came next changed his life forever.

While defending himself, Munyakho said he managed to grab the knife from Halim and used it in retaliation. Halim was stabbed in the chest. Tragically, he later died after allegedly delaying medical attention.

“I couldn’t believe someone could die in my hands. We were friends. That was the first fight I ever got into, and it ended in death,” said Munyakho, his voice heavy with regret.

Saudi authorities didn’t take the matter lightly. Munyakho was convicted of murder and sentenced to death under the kingdom’s strict laws.

For the next 14 years, he lived each day in limbo, not knowing if it would be his last. His case attracted attention from human rights bodies, his family back home, and Kenyan government officials who fought tirelessly for his freedom.

Key to the fight was the Islamic legal concept of “blood money,” a form of compensation that can grant a pardon if the victim’s family accepts it. Kenyan authorities began diplomatic negotiations and worked to raise the necessary funds.

During that time, Munyakho’s story became symbolic of the struggles and dangers Kenyan migrant workers often face in the Gulf region.

The knife used in the altercation, which belonged to Halim, was regularly carried by him according to a security guard’s testimony. That detail, while minor, became central to Munyakho’s legal defence.

Earlier this year, the Kenyan government, in collaboration with the Muslim World League, raised KSh129 million to pay the diyya, and Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi personally intervened, writing to the Saudi Foreign Minister to plead for clemency; these 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.

Today, Munyakho is back on Kenyan soil. His return has been celebrated as a miracle, but the scars, both physical and emotional, remain.