It was the tears streaming freely down Stephen ‘Stevo’ Munyakho’s cheeks that said it all.

It was a raw expression of a journey filled with untold pain, endurance, and, finally, liberation.

They were not just tears of joy but of freedom and the overwhelming emotion of closing a dark chapter marked by trauma, suffering and immeasurable loss.

Stevo, 51, returned home to Kenya in the early hours of Tuesday, touching down at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport at 12:50 am from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

It was the close of one chapter and the tender opening of another. Dorothy Kweyu wrapped her arms tightly around her son, a son she last saw and held when he was 35.

Tears streamed freely down Kweyu’s cheeks, unstoppable and unashamed. She let herself go. She surrendered to the moment, releasing years of agony, relentless hope, and sleepless nights.

When Stevo finally stepped out of the terminal at JKIA, flanked by his parents, Dorothy Kweyu and Reuben Maero, who had welcomed him at the VIP Lounge, he lifted his hand in a gentle wave to the small crowd, marking his return with quiet grace.

The International arrival terminal at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) turned into a scene of joy, hugs, tears, songs and prayer as family, friends, government officials, and religious leaders gathered to receive Stevo.

Some danced, others cried, others ululated and raised their hands to the sky in gratitude. For a man who once stared at the finality of a public execution in Saudi Arabia, the moment was “nothing short of a miracle”.

With quiet strength, Stevo shared the weight of his experience and the gratitude of the nation’s fight for one life.

“My presence here today is nothing short of a miracle, and I want to begin by thanking Allah for the gift of life. I also want to thank everyone who prayed for me, encouraged me, and contributed towards my freedom and return home,” Stevo said in a brief statement he read at the airport.

“Some of you I know, but the vast majority, in your tens of thousands, were simply touched by the misfortune of a total stranger. I am grateful to Allah for this second chance that I have been granted. It is wonderful to be back home,” he added, seeking time to rest and organise himself before telling his story.

Stev has been in prison in Saudi Arabia for more than 14 facing a death sentence, following a fatal altercation with a workmate and a friend in Saudi and led to his friend. Death.

The tragedy struck in 2011 when Stevo was 3737 years oldHis mother, Dorothy, could barely contain her emotions.

“I still remember that morning we went to the office of the principal secretary. You never disappointed. I am grateful because you opened your doors, wiped my tears and promised that you would deliver my firstborn, the first fruit of my womb..

“Thank you, Jesus. Thank Allah for this wonderful gift of life. Thank youeveryy one, especially my media colleagues,” she said.

She had knocked on countless doors over the years, hoping against hope that one day she would hold her son again. That day finally came. It was a reunion like no other. Stevo’s father, Maero, expressed gratitude to the government’s assistance, the World Muslim League and everyone who played a role in supporting his son’s return home.

Speaking at the airport shortly after the reunion, Principal Secretary for Foreign Affairs Dr Korir Sing’oei laid bare the effort that went into securing Stevo’s freedom.

“Exactly a year ago, on May 14, 2024, Mama Dorothy came to my office with my friend Henry Maina and pleaded with the government to do everything it could to bring her son back home. Honestly, I wasn’t sure how we would do it. The conditions for his release were pretty onerous,” Sing’oei said.

He said that not only had a judgment already been rendered, but all legal appeals had been exhausted and execution dates already set.

The only lifeline was to pay 3.5 million Saudi Arabian riyals, which is approximately Sh129 million diyya, known as ‘blood money’ to the family of the deceased Yemeni man involved in a 2011 fatal altercation with Stevo.

Even then, the family had to agree to accept the payment.

“Notwithstanding those obstacles, the government swung into motion. President Ruto personally wrote to the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia,” said Sing’oei.

He said that it took months of back-and-forth diplomatic engagement. Through the Kenyan ambassador in Riyadh, Mohamed Ruwange, discussions continued with Saudi authorities. In the end, their prayers were answered.

“One of our pleas to the Muslim World League was successful. I want to pay special tribute to them for honouring that demand of one million US dollars. The result is that today, we are receiving this proud son of our country back home,” said the PS.

The Bring Stevo Back Home campaign committee chairperson, Joe Odindo, said, We would like to thank everyone for their willingness to support this. Ambassador Mohamed Ruwange, the World Muslim League, for paying the amount of money that was demanded.”

“Many are the times in our meeting sessions that it looked like a lost cause. But prayer, faith, and solidarity have a way of working wonders. We reached out to so many people, including the president, and they all supported this cause,” Odindo added.

In the days leading to his release, Stevo was allowed to perform Umrah, which is the minor pilgrimage to Mecca, a symbolic spiritual cleansing before his journey back to Kenya.

His new name, Abdulkareem, was adopted as part of his faith journey during his time in prison.

Stevo, a father of three, had left Kenya in his early 20s to work in Saudi Arabia, seeking better economic prospects. 

His journey took a tragic turn in 2011 when he was convicted of manslaughter following a workplace altercation that ended in the death of a Yemeni colleague.

What began as a heated argument escalated, and in the struggle, the two were injured, but Stevo’s workmate succumbed to the injury.

Initially, he was sentenced to five years, but the sentence was later upgraded to the death penalty upon appeal by the bereaved family in 2014.

In a previous interview, Kweyu recounted that the trauma, agony and pain she suffered after the judgement to execute his son was delivered until the bereaved family agreed to take blood money and spare her son’s life in 2018.

“It has been tough, especially in the early days, when execution seemed to be the only option. I kept telling God, ‘God save my child and spare me the pain and the ignominy of receiving my beheaded child, ’ “teary Kweyu recounted.

“The beheading thought,” she paused. “It still haunts me, and it was to haunt me for four solid years until the possibility of the bereaved family asking for blood money came about, when it was just execution,” Kweyu recounted.

“It was tough and when Stevo called and said, ‘mummy, leo tumeamka kwa giz’” (mummy, we woke up to darkness today). At first, I used to think it was a blackout, but he later explained that ‘waking up to darkness’ meant that one of them had been executed.”

She went on: I told myself, one day it will be darkness for him. That was very traumatic.    

The execution date had been scheduled on May 15, 2014, but it was deferred to give the family a chance to raise the demanded Sh150 million.

But that chapter is finally closed. Now, Kweyu’s family, Stevo included, steps into a new beginning, walking the long road of healing, together.

The fleeting five-minute calls Kweyu once shared with her son each week behind prison walls will now blossom into endless, unhurried, everyday conversations, without limits.

For Stevo, there is much catching up to do. His children, Ian, Collin and Evans, who he left as minors, are now adults who have each carved their path.

His youngest, Evans, will not have to cling to his father’s jacket to keep him from leaving home or otherwise leave with him, as he would say to his mother and his grandmother Kweyu when he was only 10 years old, and when his father’s fate was still uncertain.

At the airport, Stevo fulfilled the wishes of his departed grandmother, who would tell him on the phone, “When you come back, I will dance with three legs— my two, and my walking stick.” But the grandmother died before she could keep that promise.

And in her place, Stevo danced with ‘three legs’.

“There have been so many prayers. The chairman of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Maurice Muhati, also sent a petition to the late Pope Francis to seek clemency for Stevo, and before his (the pope’s) death, we got a confirmation that the King of Saudi Arabia had received it. Those were prayers, and all these were not in vain,” Kweyu said.