Former Lugari MP Cyrus Jirongo. Photo; Courtesy
Former Lugari Member of Parliament and veteran Kenyan politician Cyrus Jirongo was born on March 21, 1961. He received his secondary education at Mang’u High School between 1978 and 1981. Jirongo became nationally known at a young age for his exceptional political mobilization and organizing skills rather than through a conventional professional career.
He rose to prominence in 1992 as the leader of Youth for KANU ’92 (YK’92), a powerful political lobby group formed to support then President Daniel arap Moi during Kenya’s first multiparty elections. The group played a key role in nationwide mobilization and fundraising, catapulting Jirongo into the spotlight as one 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 role that further elevated his public profile beyond the political arena.
Throughout the 1990s, he was involved in various business ventures, particularly in real estate and agriculture. He publicly claimed to have become a billionaire at a young age. However, many of these ventures later became burdened by heavy debts, resulting in prolonged legal and financial disputes.
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 made a comeback in 2007 after winning the Lugari seat under his own party, the Kenya African Democratic Development Union (KADDU). Between 2008 and 2013, he was the only MP from the party.
In 2013, Jirongo expressed interest in the presidency but later unsuccessfully contested the Kakamega Senate seat. He supported Raila Odinga in the presidential race. In 2017, he ran for president under the United Democratic Party but garnered a minimal share of the national vote. His party later joined the Azimio la Umoja coalition ahead of the 2022 General Election. After the polls, he publicly congratulated President William Ruto.
From the mid-2000s, Jirongo faced mounting financial challenges linked to unpaid bank loans and private debts. Several courts ruled against him in loan recovery cases, and in 2017, the High Court declared him bankrupt over debts amounting to hundreds of millions of shillings. Properties linked to companies associated with him were placed under receivership or auctioned, while courts also ordered him to settle large sums owed to individuals, including COTU Secretary-General Francis Atwoli.
Jirongo was polygamous and had a large family, often speaking openly about having wives from different communities. In 2025, he suffered personal tragedy following the death of one of his daughters after a short illness.
On December 13, 2025, Cyrus Jirongo died in a road accident along the Nairobi–Nakuru Highway following a head-on collision.
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