NAIVASHA, Kenya — Former Lugari Member of Parliament and Youth for KANU ’92 (YK92) leader Cyrus Jirongo has died following a road accident in Karai, Naivasha, along the Nairobi–Nakuru Highway, bringing to an end a decades-long political career closely intertwined with Kenya’s KANU era and the Goldenberg scandal.
Jirongo died early Saturday morning, December 13, 2025, at the age of 64, after his vehicle was involved in a head-on collision with a passenger bus.
Police said he sustained fatal head injuries and died at the scene. His body was transferred to the Naivasha Sub-County Hospital mortuary pending a post-mortem examination.
His death marks the passing of one of the most recognisable and controversial political figures to emerge during Kenya’s turbulent transition from one-party rule to multiparty democracy in the early 1990s.
Jirongo rose to national prominence in 1992, a watershed year in Kenyan politics.
That year, former President Daniel Arap Moi repealed Section 2A of the Constitution, restoring multiparty politics after nearly three decades of KANU’s de jure one-party rule. As opposition heavyweights Kenneth Matiba, Charles Rubia, and Jaramogi Oginga Odinga united to challenge Moi in the December 29, 1992, General Election, KANU responded by mobilising youth support through the Youth for KANU ’92 movement.
Jirongo emerged as the chairperson and public face of YK92, leading a group of young, aggressive political mobilisers that included William Ruto, now President. Backed by senior KANU figures such as Sam Nyamweya, Patrick Musumba, Gerald Bomett, and Micah Kigen, YK92 played a central role in energising Moi’s re-election campaign at a time of economic strain and rising political uncertainty.
The movement quickly became synonymous with money-fuelled politics. Amid runaway inflation, the Central Bank of Kenya introduced a new Sh500 note, which YK92 operatives widely used to fund rallies and logistics.
The note soon acquired the nickname “Jirongo,” cementing his image as both a powerful mobiliser and a symbol of excess in Kenyan politics.
Years later, Jirongo openly acknowledged that the funds circulating during that period were linked to the Goldenberg scandal, widely regarded as Kenya’s largest corruption scheme.
In a past podcast interview with ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna, Jirongo dismissed claims that YK92 directly printed money but admitted the financing was tied to Goldenberg proceeds.
“Obviously, it was Goldenberg money,” he said, explaining how the scheme involved massive Central Bank payouts through Exchange Bank under the guise of gold exports, injecting billions of shillings into the economy and severely destabilising it.
Despite the controversy, Jirongo successfully transitioned into elective politics. He was first elected Lugari MP in 1997, serving until 2002, and later returned to Parliament between 2007 and 2013.
In the final months of Moi’s presidency, he served as Minister for Rural Development from March to December 2002, part of a broader effort by KANU to rebrand as its long rule came to an end.
After KANU lost power, Jirongo’s political influence waned but never disappeared. He remained outspoken, entrepreneurial, and politically restless, aligning with various parties over the years.
In 2022, he mounted a final major political bid, contesting the Kakamega gubernatorial race under the United Democratic Party (UDP), but lost to Fernandes Barasa.
Tributes following his death have reflected the complexity of his legacy — hailed by allies as bold, generous and fearless, and remembered by critics as a central figure in one of Kenya’s most damaging political-economic scandals. Even so, few dispute his impact.
Cyrus Jirongo leaves behind a legacy that mirrors Kenya’s own democratic journey: ambitious, turbulent, controversial, and deeply consequential.
