Former Lugari MP Cyrus Jirongo dies in 3am Naivasha road crash
Cyrus Jirongo during an interview at his Mayfair Suites offices in Nairobi on October 28, 2021.
Former Lugari Member of Parliament Cyrus Shakhalaga Jirongo, best known for his leadership of the controversial Youth for Kanu '92 (YK92) movement that supported President Daniel arap Moi's re-election campaign in 1992, is dead.
Jirongo died in a road accident on Saturday morning at Karai along the Nakuru Nairobi Highway.
Rift Valley Regional Traffic Commander Sara Chumo confirmed that Jirongo died on the spot in the accident that occurred at 3am in the morning.
According to the traffic boss, Jirongo was headed in the direction of Nairobi in his Mercedes Benz before he collided head on with a bus that was headed the opposite direction.
“We are sad to announce the death of politician cyrus Jirongo in road accident along the Nakuru Nairobi highway,” said Ms Chumo.
The wreckage of the Mercedes Benz that Cyrus Jirongo was driving parked at Naivasha police Station on December 13, 2025.
The politician sustained serious head injuries leading to his instant death, according to the police.
Jirongo's body was moved to Naivasha sub county Hospital morgue while the vehicles were towed to the Naivasha police station awaiting inspection. No other fatalities were reported from the accident.
Jirongo first rose to national prominence in 1992 as the powerful chairman of the YK '92 lobby group, a movement instrumental in campaigning for President Daniel arap Moi's re-election.
He served for two terms as Lugari MP, first from 1997 to 2002 on a Kanu ticket, and again from 2007 to 2013 as a Kenya African Democratic Development Union legislator.
He was later associated with the United Democratic Party and Federal Party of Kenya.
During the final months of the Moi administration that ended in December 2002, he briefly held a Cabinet portfolio as the Minister for Rural Development.
Beyond his parliamentary duties, Jirongo also harboured presidential ambitions, notably contesting the 2017 Kenyan General Election.
He got 11,282 votes in the August poll and just 3,832 in the repeat election in October of the same year after the Supreme Court annulled the first vote.
Following the accident, Nakuru county police commander Samuel Opuru appealed to motorists to be cautious on the road, especially during the festive season.
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