The family of Steven Bertrand Munyakho, a Kenyan citizen facing a death sentence in Saudi Arabia, now says that they are yet to receive official confirmation that the Muslim World League has secured his release.

The Committee for the release of Steven Bertrand Munyakho said this after reports and pronouncements that the KSh100 million out of the KSh120.7 million blood money set by the court as a condition for his release had been paid.

United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Secretary-General Hassan Omar on Tuesday, March 25 said that the Kenyan government, through President William Ruto’s intervention, had secured Munyakho’s release after seeking the assistance of the Muslim World League Secretary-General Muhammad bin Abdul Karim Issa, who visited the country in 2024.

“We brought the secretary-general here and requested his intervention in the case of a Kenyan who was facing the death penalty for murder,” Omar said during an Iftar dinner at State House, Nairobi.

However, the Committee told TV47 Digital on Wednesday, March 26 that if the report is accurate, it will come as an answered prayer for the many well-wishers supporting the ‘Save Stevo Campaign’.

“However, we have yet to receive an official communication as a committee. We have contacted government officials in Kenya and Saudi Arabia and will notify the public of the latest developments,” the committee said in a statement.

What happened?

In April 9, 2011, an altercation occurred between Munyakho — who was then a warehouse manager — and his workmate identified as Abdul Halim Mujahid Makrad Saleh, a Yemeni national.

Unfortunately, the altercation led to the death of Mujahid.

Munyakho — who was injured too during the altercation — was initially (in 2012) sentenced to five years in prison for manslaughter. But this was before a Shariah court sentenced him to death, with an option for 3.5 million riyals in blood money, following an appeal by the victim’s family.

He has been incarcerated for the past 13 years and, as of yesterday, the family says he was still being held in Dhaban Prison, Jeddah.