Dorothy Kweyu: Ksh150M Saudi Arabia blood money demand left us helpless
By Mustafa Juma, July 30, 2025Veteran journalist Dorothy Kweyu, the mother of Stephen Munyakho—the Kenyan man who was recently released from a Saudi Arabian prison after a death sentence was overturned—has opened up about the harrowing ordeal her family endured, including the enormous financial burden they were expected to shoulder.
Speaking during an interview with a local TV station on Wednesday, July 30, 2025, Kweyu recounted the moment she learnt about the Ksh150 million blood money that Saudi authorities had initially demanded for the release of her son.
“The truth is that Ksh400 million, I got to know about it much later,” she revealed, referencing the original figure before it was negotiated down to 3.5 million Riyals—approximately one-third of the initial amount.
“The diaspora office told me it was 150 million Kenyan shillings. I told them, 150 million shillings is not an amount that I or my family can pay in our lifetime.”
Kweyu’s emotional account underscores the challenges many families face when loved ones are caught up in complex legal cases abroad, especially in countries with different legal frameworks and where blood money (diya) is recognised as part of the justice system.
Harrowing family experience
She also opened up about the harrowing experience her family went through following Munyakho’s arrest.
Kweyu revealed the initial moments of fear and confusion that gripped her when she first received word of the incident abroad.
“When I first received information from Saudi Arabia, I thought my son was the one who had died,” she recalled.
“Three hours later, we established that it was the other party that had died. That accelerated my anxiety further because I knew for a fact that having somebody dead on my son’s hands spelt doom on him.”
Munyakho had been arrested in Saudi Arabia following a fatal altercation with a colleague, sparking a legal battle that saw him sentenced to death.
After years of advocacy, diplomatic intervention, and prayers, his sentence was overturned—and he was finally allowed to return home in July 2025.