Besides Mwai Kibaki, one of the most prominent politicians minted by Mangu High School was Cyrus Jirongo, who died aged 64 on Saturday morning.
A Mangu and Egerton University alumnus, he was barely in his thirties when he was thrust into the country’s political arena; a murky world where money is currency but loyalty can also be cashed out.
He started off as the chairman of the Youth for Kanu 1992 (YK ’92) group that was known to have a limitless access to cash as it sought to convince Kenya’s youth to choose President Daniel arap Moi when multiparty elections were returning.
From then to the time of his demise, he made numerous headlines in the Nation newspapers. Below are some of the headlines arranged chronologically from 1992 to 2024 that capture snapshots of his public life.
NSSF denies plots deal with Jirongo
Former Member of Parliament for Lugari Constituency Cyrus Jirongo.
Photo credit: Jared Nyataya | Nation Media Group
September 29, 1992: Jirongo was the YK ‘92 chairman during a storm over a land deal by the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) . Jirongo and Davy Koech were directors of Sololo Outlets Ltd that sold land to NSSF for Sh1.2 billion when the true value was Sh66 million. After the prices were revealed in a Sunday Nation investigation, the NSSF Board claimed the sale was discussed but had been rejected. Jirongo later sued to block “Nation” from reporting the matter.
Resign, Jirongo told by officials
November 7, 1992: A complaint from two Kanu officials brought to fore the well-oiled machine that was YK ‘92. Shaban Nasser and J Ndolo claimed the group was swimming in money but with little to show for it. “They have taken President Moi for a very big ride. They use money lavishly and squander it while it is supposed to be used in campaigning for President Moi,” they said.
January 12, 1993: After Kanu won the 1992 General Election, the first after the reintroduction of multiparty democracy, cracks emerged in the YK ’92. Some of the members accused Mr Jirongo of behaving as if he were the only one who had helped Mr Moi win. The group said some of the YK ’92 officials were lobbying for major positions such as ambassadors, permanent secretaries, heads of parastatals, nominated Members of Parliament, among others.
April 24, 1993: President Moi stopped the activities of YK’92 through a statement from State House, Nakuru. He said on April 23 that some members of the lobby were working with the opposition to tarnish the names of people loyal to him, the country and Kanu. Opposition members, among them Paul Muite and Mwai Kibaki, said the disbandment was because the group had run its course. Mr Muite said: “The organisation had served its purpose ... It was set up by President Moi with the objective of distributing Sh25 billion to buy Kanu’s victory.”
I am clean, says embattled Jirongo
April 26, 1993: Two days after Moi halted the YK ’92 operations, Jirongo surfaced to say he had not been arrested and that he had not done anything wrong to cause the discontinuation of the lobby. He, however, failed to explain why Moi had pulled the plug on the group. At the time of its halting, YK’92 had 26 national executive committee members. A day after Jirongo’s remarks, some 19 executives disassociated themselves with “those who are working with the opposition” as Moi had claimed. Among the 19 was Mr William Ruto, Kenya’s current president.
Jirongo ‘is planning new party’
June 14, 1993: Two months after YK ’92 was disbanded, a former official of the group – Mr Sammy Boit Kogo – issued a statement saying Mr Jirongo was mooting a new party to oppose Kanu and that he was planning to “misuse” YK ’92 officials countrywide.
Auctioneers raid Jirongo’s house
January 6, 1994: On Christmas Eve 1993, Jirongo’s house in Lavington, Nairobi, was raided by auctioneers who took a litany of assets , including his green Mercedes car that had automatic windows, a sunroof, a central locking system and a mobile phone. Gichuru Njihia reported that the auctioneers left “only a wooden stool to sit on”.
How the Jirongo and Sololo bubble burst
October 15, 1993: Mr Jirongo was an embattled man as the Moi administration targeted some of the assets he had accumulated. Journalist Alex Cege wrote: “The lobby group [YK ’92] was inextricably tied to its flamboyant millionaire-chairman, Cyrus Jirongo, now a haunted man, the victim of the very system he shouted his voice hoarse supporting in the run up to the General Election last year, the sacrificial lamb in an orgy so characteristic of the Kenyan political landscape.”
He added: “Once the proud owner of two real estate development forms, Cypper Projects International and Sololo Outlets (now in receivership), Jirongo has watched, rather helplessly, as his empire crumbles under the unceasing assault of his former friends.”
Time up, young MPs tell oldies
UDP party leader Cyrus Jirongo during the interview with the Saturday Nation at his Mayfair Suites offices in Nairobi on October 28, 2021.
Photo credit: Evans Habil | Nation Media Group
November 9, 1998: By November 1998, despite the issues he was having with his properties, Jirongo had succeeded in becoming the Lugari MP via the 1997 General Election. To generate this headline, he had been part of a group of youthful Kanu MPs, including Mr Ruto, who said they wanted a young person to succeed Moi in 2002. “These leaders want to amass property in every corner of the country at the expense of the masses,” Jirongo said. Mr Ruto said any politician above 55 years should forget the presidency once Moi retired. “We have been called leaders of tomorrow since my primary school days back in 1977. Has tomorrow not yet come?” he asked
Quit Kanu, Moi orders Jirongo
March 4, 1999: Two years after his election as a lawmaker, Jirongo rattled Mr Moi when he threatened to form a party. Moi swiftly responded by asking him to quit the independence party, adding that Attorney-General Amos Wako was ready to register Jirongo’s party “immediately”.
Jirongo party furious at Moi
March 11, 1999: There was no love lost between Mr Jirongo’s and Mr Moi after the United Democratic Movement (UDM) faced hurdles while seeking registration. UDM chairman Fred Amayo accused the President of blocking UDM’s registration because it offered “serious challenge to suspected plans by the head of State to stay in power beyond 2002”. UDM officials also defended Mr Jirongo’s association with the party.
Try it, Nassir dares 7 MPs
June 28, 1999: After Mr Jirongo joined seven MPs who threatened to forcibly remove Mr Moi from power, Home Affairs Minister Shariff Nassir shot back, telling them to dare actualise their words. The seven had said that Mr Moi was “the only remaining dictator in Africa” and should, therefore, quit.
Rebel MP Jirongo attends Moi rally
May 22, 2001: Given the political stance that Jirongo had taken, declaring that he would not seek re-election for Lugari constituency on a Kanu ticket, he shocked many when he attended a rally addressed by President Moi in Bomet. When introducing leaders, Moi was surprised to notice Jirongo. “Even Jirongo is here. He was in Kanu and I don’t know where he is now. I hope he will come back,” said Moi.
After the event, Jirongo could not confirm or deny claims that he wanted to be readmitted to Kanu.
Uhuru, Jirongo shine in reshuffle
November 22, 2001: On the day Mr Uhuru Kenyatta was appointed Local Government Minister, which was Moi’s way of fast-tracking him to power, Jirongo was made the Rural Development Minister.
This confirmed that he had been welcomed back to Kanu. He would go ahead to campaign for Mr Kenyatta to succeed Moi, a bid that failed.
Jirongo flexes muscles for the big fight
How Moi created then decimated youth lobby
June 12, 2016: A revisit of the life and times of YK’92 revealed that after the 1992 polls Kanu started divisions in the group. Journalist Kipchumba Some spoke with Fred Kiptanui, one of the group’s founders, who said: “Kanu engineered the divisions within YK’92 to weaken us.”
August 7, 2017: In the 2017 General Election, Mr Jirongo gunned for the biggest political seat in the land, facing off with Uhuru Kenyatta – who was defending his seat – Raila Odinga, Ekuru Aukot, Japhet Kaluyu, Abduba Dida, Joseph Nyagah, among others. In October of that year, running on a United Democratic Party ticket, he received the least number of votes in the repeat polls that followed the August 8, 2017 election that was nullified by the Supreme Court.
April 8, 2018: Mr Jirongo’s 1,000-acre piece of land in Ruai, Nairobi County, became a point of focus as investors from the United Arab Emirates wanted to put up a park with 10,900 housing units. He said he was on the verge of inking a Sh15 billion deal with Sheikh Rakadh Group, but that wouldn’t be cleared because the title to the property was held at the Central Bank over a debt owed.
Jirongo to raise Sh5m by today
September 20, 2018: Mr Jirongo was dragged to court by businessman Bryan Yongo over a Sh20 million loan given in 2014. Journalist Abiud Ochieng reported that Mr Jirongo’s failure to settle the debt prompted Mr Yongo to seek to have him committed to a civil jail. When the report was published, Mr Jirongo had to find Sh5 million as cash bail to secure his release.
Court terminates case against Jirongo for being time-barred
July 17, 2021: Mr Jirongo faced a criminal case stemming from 1991 that involved the charging of property in Nairobi’s Upper Hill as collateral for a loan. Because the alleged offence had been committed more than two decades earlier, the Supreme Court said it wouldn’t be proper to try him over the matter. The apex court said that although there is no limitation of time to institute and prosecute criminal offences, prosecution can be stopped if the accused may not be able to mount a credible defence.
The dispute arose sometime in 1991 when Mr Jirongo entered into a land sale agreement with Mr Sammy Boit Kogo and Antoinette Boit through Soy Development Ltd (SDL), for Sh20 million in Upper Hill. Documents filed in court showed that he paid Sh10 million. He later charged the title deed to City Finance Bank for a loan of Sh30 million. He repaid the money and took another loan of Sh50 million from Postbank. In 2015, Mr Kogo claimed Mr Jirongo presented himself as a director of SDL and secured an overdraft from Postbank.
Jirongo: We want President or DP post and why I encourage polygamy
October 31, 2021: Ahead of the 2022 General Election, Mr Jirongo sided with the One Kenya Alliance (OKA). He had a wide-ranging interview with journalist Justus Wanga, where he explained why he would never work with Dr Ruto — who went ahead to win the race to succeed Mr Kenyatta. Said he: “William Ruto is my friend as a human being. But it will be impossible for me to work with William Ruto at the moment or in the future because that accumulation of character has pronounced itself more and more as he grows up.” He also added that the people from Western were clamouring for one of them to be either the President or the second-in-command.
Man who owes Kenya Sh40 billion
November 16, 2022: Two loans that Jirongo took from Postbank in the early 1990s were revisited by journalist Brian Wasuna as they had by then ballooned to Sh40 billion. They were Sh1.1 billion and Sh1.65 billion at the time of borrowing but due to interest accumulation, they had shot up to Sh40 billion.
The combined Sh2.7 billion he had borrowed was equivalent to Kenya’s budget deficit at the time, using two parcels of land as collateral. One of the parcels was the 1,000-acre property in Ruai, Nairobi County.
Jolly Jirongo turns the tide
February 11, 2024: After his political gambles backfired, many people thought he was down and out. He made a surprise return when he popped up next to President Museveni in Uganda with Chinese investors to sign a lucrative climate change deal. He was there as the African representative of Luokong Technology, a Chinese firm tasked with developing a digital measuring, reporting and verification platform to do with carbon credits. “We’re thrilled to introduce advanced tools to Africa’s carbon market,” said a statement issued by Shiftings Ltd, a company Mr Jirongo owned.
