Gov't seeks to repatriate over 1,000 Kenyans jailed abroad

Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi says the government is working tirelessly to repatriate more than 1,000 Kenyans currently incarcerated abroad.

While acknowledging the complexity of many of these cases, Mudavadi assured the public that the government remains fully committed to pursuing all possible diplomatic avenues to bring them home.

Mudavadi made the remarks after officially meeting Stephen Munyakho, who recently returned to Kenya after he was saved from execution in Saudi Arabia. Munyakho thanked Kenyans and President Ruto for their role in securing his release.

“We have about 1,000 Kenyans facing incarceration in different countries, and our embassies and missions continue to work through diplomatic channels every other day to try and get the best outcome. Sometimes we may succeed, sometimes we may not succeed,” said the Foreign Affairs CS.

Munyakho spent 14 years on death row in Saudi Arabia on murder charges following a violent altercation with a Yemeni colleague in April 2011.

The colleague later died from his injuries, leading to Munyakho’s initial sentencing of five years for manslaughter. However, the verdict was later overturned on appeal, and the charge was elevated to murder, resulting in a death sentence by beheading.

This prompted Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi to intervene, writing to the Saudi Foreign Minister to seek Munyakho's pardon. 

The execution was then postponed after the victim’s family agreed to accept diyya (blood money), a form of financial compensation permitted under Islamic law.

Earlier this year, the Kenyan government, with support from the Muslim World League, raised Ksh.129 million to settle the compensation claim.

Following the settlement, Munyakho was granted his freedom and performed Umrah (the minor pilgrimage) before being transferred from Shimeisi Prison in the Mecca Governorate to a deportation centre.

He made his long-awaited return to the country on July 29, 2025.