Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary (PS) Korir Sing’oei has announced that the execution of a Kenyan in Saudi Arabia, Stephen Munyakho has been postponed.
Korir in a statement on Thursday October 24 announced that the execution of Stephen Munyakho has been lifted for a period of one year.
“I am pleased to inform that after strenuous negotiations between our Mission in Riyadh, Saudi Authorities and the Widow, the impending execution of judgement against Stephen Munyakho (Abdulkareem) due for November 26, 2024, has been postponed for another one year to allow parties settle outstanding obligations,” he said.
“We shall continue relying on our two countries’ cordial relations towards concluding the matter. The goodwill of all Kenyans, partners, and stakeholders is equally appreciated. I commend Ambassador Ruwange for his leadership on this important matter.”
Stephen who has stayed in prison for 13 years was due to be executed (death sentence).
Munyakho was originally scheduled for execution on May 15, 2024, but the authorities extended the deadline to July 26, 2024, and then further postponed it by four months to November 26, 2024.
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Execution Charges Against Stephen Munyakho in Saudi Arabia
Munyakho was found guilty of killing a Yemeni national in Saudi Arabia in April 2011.
Reports indicated that he was engaged in a fight while working as a warehouse manager with Abdul Halim Mujahid Markad Saleh whose family currently lives in Saudi Arabia.
Munyakho’s mother and former Nation Media Group (NMG) journalist Dorothy Kweyu said Abdul, who stabbed Stephen in the thigh and thumb during the scuffle, walked himself to hospital where he later died.
Thereafter, Stephen Munyakho was tried for murder and received a five-year imprisonment, but the Yemeni family later appealed the sentence in Shariah Court, citing the ‘reciprocal right to retaliate’.
