Nairobi, May 5 -- Ten days from today, a man born in Pumwani, Nairobi, on the morning of March 5, 1974, could be facing a fateful D-Day in Saudi Arabia if no last-minute intervention is made.

A death sentence sanctioned by Sharia law is set to befall Stephen Bertrand Munyakho and close the chapter of his 50-year eventful stay on earth.

He has lived 22 years in Kenya; 28 in Saudi Arabia - with 13 of those 28 spent in prison in the Middle Eastern kingdom. He had scored a C+ at Jamhuri High School and went to the Middle East to make money to enable him to go to the United States or the United Kingdom to get a university degree.

Stephen, fondly known as Stevo, is in prison now. In conversations with his family, he says prisoners there use ...