Nairobi – Kenya is in mourning following the tragic death of veteran politician and former Lugari Member of Parliament, Cyrus Shakhalaga Jirongo, who perished in a fatal road accident early Saturday morning, December 13, 2025.
The 64-year-old died instantly after his Mercedes-Benz collided head-on with a passenger bus in the Karai area along the Nairobi-Nakuru Highway in Naivasha at around 3 a.m. Police reports indicate Jirongo, travelling alone towards Nairobi, sustained severe head injuries in the crash.
President William Ruto led the nation in tributes, describing Jirongo as a personal friend and an indomitable figure in Kenyan politics and business. “I am deeply saddened by the passing of my friend, former Lugari MP Cyrus Jirongo,” Ruto stated. “He was a relentless go-getter, a seasoned businessman, and a consummate politician who refused to be defined, let alone defeated, by life’s challenges.”
Ruto praised Jirongo’s character: “He was a fighter in every sense: blunt yet warm, bold yet approachable, enlightened and endlessly entrepreneurial. Above all, he was generous to a fault; always willing to give, to uplift, and to back others.” The President added that Jirongo “lived on his own terms and left an indelible mark on our political landscape,” extending prayers to the family.
I am deeply saddened by the passing of my friend, former Lugari MP Cyrus Jirongo.
Jirongo was a relentless go-getter, a seasoned businessman, and a consummate politician who refused to be defined, let alone defeated, by life’s challenges.
He was a fighter in every sense: blunt… pic.twitter.com/AVhJ73Qm7D
— William Samoei Ruto, PhD (@WilliamsRuto) December 13, 2025
Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale also joined in mourning the “towering political figure.” Having served alongside Jirongo in Parliament from 2007, Duale recalled him as a man of “sharp instincts, deep institutional memory and an unmistakable presence, forged in the crucible of Kenya’s formative political moments.” He prayed for comfort for Jirongo’s family and friends.
I join fellow Kenyans and the people of Lugari in mourning the passing of Cyrus Jirongo, a towering political figure whose journey came to a sudden and painful end.
I was privileged to serve with him in Parliament during my first entry into the August House in 2007. In those… pic.twitter.com/PTgttG0tUG
— Hon. Aden Duale, EGH (@HonAdenDuale) December 13, 2025
Jirongo rose to prominence in 1992 as chairman of the influential Youth for KANU ’92 lobby group, which mobilised support for President Daniel arap Moi. He served as Lugari MP from 1997-2002 and 2007-2013, briefly as Minister for Rural Development, and contested the presidency in 2017.
Tributes poured in from across the political divide, including former Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta and leaders like Kalonzo Musyoka and Francis Atwoli, underscoring Jirongo’s enduring legacy.
