Cyrus Jirongo
Former Lugari Member of Parliament Cyrus Jirongo is dead.
Jirongo passed away on Saturday, December 13 morning after being involved in a grisly road accident along the busy Nairobi-Nakuru Highway.
The accident occurred at around 3:00 AM after his vehicle collided head-on with an oncoming Climax Coach bus.
The 64-year-old politician was alone in his car and was driving to his rural home in Lugari at the time of the fatal crash.
Jirongo served as Member of Parliament for Lugari Constituency between 1997 and 2002 and between 2007 and 2013.
He also served as a Minister for Rural Development during President Daniel Moi’s administration, between March 2002 and December of the same year.
In 2022, he unsuccessfully contested for the Kakamega gubernatorial position under the United Democratic Party (UDP) but lost to Fernandes Barasa.
Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) Secretary General Francis Atwoli has mourned Jirongo as an asset to the Luhya community and Kenya.
“This morning, with a lot of shock and sadness, I have learnt of the passing on of Cyrus Jirongo who was an asset to our community and Kenya. We loved him but God loved him more. May your soul rest in peace,” Atwoli stated.
Bungoma Governor Kenneth Lusaka mourned the politician, stating, “Death has robbed us of one of our greatest sons. Rest in peace, Hon. Cyrus Jirongo.”
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 significant role in mobilisation and fundraising, propelling Jirongo into the ranks of the most influential young political figures of the early 1990s.
Before entering elective politics, Jirongo served as chairman of AFC Leopards Football Club in 1991, a position that further elevated his public profile beyond the political arena.
