Stephen Munyakho, the Kenyan who had spent over a decade in jail in Saudi Arabia, revealed that a salary dispute is what led to him being put on death row in the Gulf nation.
While appearing on JKL at Citizen TV, Munyakho narrated that the disagreement over his dues with his colleague, a Yemeni national, led to the two having a physical altercation, resulting in Munyakho stabbing his colleague.
Munyakho, now known as Abdul Kareem, detailed the incident, which happened in 2011, and was sparked by his colleague, known as Abdul Halim, after he insulted him, sparking a fit of rage from Munyakho.
However, Munyakho noted that his colleague was the one who started physically assaulting him by attacking him with a knife in an attempt to stab him. Munyakho disclosed that it was in the act of self-defence that he fatally stabbed his colleague.
“It was a salary-related fight. I was supposed to go and collect my salary, but he was not willing to let me go. I ended up getting angry. He used words that were not very good, and I could not understand them. He is the one who started the fight. The knife was his. After he used it on me, I used it on him,” he stated.
“We had a misunderstanding, which ended up in a fight, and it escalated until there were some stabbings, which were not intentional,” Munyakho added.
The Kenyan, who was subsequently arrested, imprisoned, and put on death row over the next decade after the incident, divulged that the two were both working under the accounts department at a restaurant in Saudi Arabia at the time.
Munyakho revealed that he had stab wounds on his hand and thigh from the fight, while the victim succumbed to a single stab wound to the chest.
Still, he said Halim's death was caused not directly by the stab wounds but by delayed medical attention.
“The main cause of his death was not stabbing, but that he delayed going to the hospital, and so he lost a lot of blood. It was just a mistake,” Munyakho recounted.
The incident occurred on the night of April 9, 2011 — exactly 16 years after Munyakho had first travelled to Saudi Arabia.
Munyakho returned home to Kenya early Tuesday morning after a protracted legal battle in Saudi Arabia, where his initial manslaughter conviction was later upgraded to murder, resulting in a death sentence.
His execution was stayed after the victim’s family agreed to accept diyya (blood money)—a financial compensation allowed under Islamic law.
With support from the Kenyan government and the Muslim World League, Ksh129 million was raised to secure his release. He was freed on July 22, 2025, after completing all judicial processes and performing Umrah, before being deported to Kenya.
