NAIVASHA, Kenya – Former Cabinet minister and ex-Lugari Member of Parliament Cyrus Jirongo is dead.
While confirming the accident, Rift Valley Traffic Enforcement Officer Sarah Chumo said the road accident occurred at the Karai area near Naivasha town in Nakuru County at around 3 am.
“It happened that one Cyrus Jirongo, aged 64 years, was driving a motor vehicle with registration number KCZ305C, a Mercedes-Benz, from the Nakuru direction heading towards the Nairobi direction, and upon reaching the location of the accident,” a police statement reads in part.
The statement seen by news9.africa further reads: “He failed to keep to its inner lane and collided head-on with the oncoming motor vehicle registration number KCU576A, make MAN belonging to the Climax company, driven by Tiras Kamau Githinji, aged 52 years.”
As a result of the accident, the driver of KCZ305C sustained serious head injuries and died on the spot.
“Scene visited and necessary action taken. The deceased’s body was moved to Naivasha Sub-County mortuary, awaiting autopsy. The Mercedes-Benz vehicle was towed to the police station and detained awaiting inspection,” the statement further reads.
What did the Climax bus driver say about the accident
Addressing the press, Tiras Kamau Githinji Kamau, the driver of the Climax Coaches Bus, confirmed that the accident that occurred early this morning involved his bus and a Mercedes-Benz saloon car that collided head-on
“The Mercedes-Benz was coming from a petroleum station, and I was travelling from Nairobi to Busia. The driver of the Mercedes-Benz didn’t give way. When he joined the highway, he noticed there was a heavy traffic jam, so he decided to join my lane, which is when we collided,” said Kamau.
Kamau, who has worked for the bus company for 8 years, further said:
“The Mercedes-Benz had one passenger, who was the driver, and my bus had 65 passengers. I tried to avoid colliding with him, but I realised that my bus could have easily gone down. At first, I didn’t know who was in the saloon car, but later, after the police arrived at the scene, I was told it was Hon. Cyrus Jirongo. Pole sana.”
Cyrus Jirongo’s early life
Jirongo was born on March 21, 1961. He attended Mang’u High School between 1978 and 1981. He became widely known at a young age for his political organising skills rather than for a formal professional background.
Jirongo rose to national prominence in 1992 as the leader of Youth for KANU 92, a powerful political lobby group formed to support President Daniel arap Moi during Kenya’s first multiparty elections. The group played a major role in mobilisation and fundraising, making Jirongo one of the most influential young political figures of the early 1990s.
Before holding elective office, Jirongo served as chairman of AFC Leopards Football Club in 1991. This role helped raise his public profile beyond politics.
During the 1990s, Jirongo was associated with several business ventures, particularly in real estate and agriculture. He publicly claimed to have become a billionaire at a young age. Over time, however, many of these ventures became heavily indebted, leading to prolonged legal and financial disputes.
Cyrus Jirongo’s into elective politics
In 1997, Jirongo was elected Member of Parliament for Lugari Constituency. In 2002, President Moi appointed him Minister for Rural Development in the final KANU government.
He lost his parliamentary seat in the 2002 general election but regained it in 2007 under his own party, the Kenya African Democratic Development Union. Between 2008 and 2013, he was the only Member of Parliament from that party.
In 2013, Jirongo expressed interest in the presidency but eventually ran unsuccessfully for the Kakamega Senate seat. He supported Raila Odinga in the presidential race.
In 2017, he contested the presidency under the United Democratic Party but received a tiny share of the national vote. His party later joined the Azimio la Umoja coalition ahead of the 2022 elections. After the election, he publicly congratulated President William Ruto.
From the mid-2000s onwards, Jirongo faced mounting debts linked to bank loans and private lenders. Several courts ruled against him in loan recovery cases. In 2017, the High Court declared him bankrupt after failing to repay loans amounting to hundreds of millions of shillings.
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