The burial of the late former Lugari Member of Parliament, Cyrus Jirongo, has been set for Tuesday, December 30, 2025, according to his family.
The ceremony will take place at his Lumakanda home in Lugari Constituency, Kakamega County.
The burial arrangements were confirmed on Sunday by a funeral committee chaired by former Westlands MP Fred Gumo, which addressed the media after a consultative meeting.
Speaking on behalf of the committee, former Senator Boni Khalwale said the late Jirongo will be laid to rest at his family homestead in Lumakanda, next to his parents.
“We have constituted a committee to coordinate the funeral arrangements for our brother,” Khalwale said.
The committee noted that the former KANU stalwart will be buried beside his late parents.
“We have tentatively agreed that the burial will take place on December 30 and that he will be laid to rest at his Lumakanda home beside his father and mother,” he added.
Jirongo died in a tragic road accident along the Nairobi–Nakuru Highway on Saturday, December 13, 2025.
The driver of the Climax Company bus involved in the crash that claimed Jirongo’s life recounted how he made a split-second decision to protect the 65 passengers aboard, even as the collision became unavoidable.
Tirus Kamau, who has worked with the long-distance bus company for eight years, said he was travelling from Nairobi to Busia when the accident occurred at around 3 a.m. on Saturday at Karai, Naivasha.
Kamau told reporters at Naivasha Police Station that a white Mercedes-Benz E350, later confirmed to have been driven by Jirongo, suddenly swerved into his lane.
“The Mercedes was exiting a petrol station on the highway, and I was heading to Busia from Nairobi,” he said. “The driver did not give way and instead overlapped into my lane because there was traffic on his side.”
With 65 passengers on board and only seconds to react, Kamau said he realised that swerving sharply off the road could have caused the bus to overturn.
“I was carrying 65 people. When I tried to avoid the collision, I realised the bus would roll, so I decided to save the 65 passengers,” he said.
Jirongo’s vehicle collided with the passenger bus, killing him instantly.
Rift Valley traffic enforcement officer Sarah Chumo confirmed the crash, saying the vehicle carrying the former legislator reportedly rammed into the bus, leaving it badly damaged.
Jirongo, 64, served as Minister for Rural Development in March 2002 under former President Daniel Moi, holding the position until December the same year.
He represented Lugari Constituency in Parliament between 1997 and 2002 and again from 2007 to 2013.
In 2022, he ran for the Kakamega gubernatorial seat on a United Democratic Party (UDP) ticket but lost to Fernandes Barasa of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).
Jirongo had a long and varied career in politics and business. In 2017, he contested the presidency under UDP but garnered only 11,000 votes, representing 0.07 per cent of the total votes cast.
Although he kept a low profile after his 2022 defeat, he recently supported DAP-Kenya candidate Seth Panyako in the Malava by-elections, campaigning in the days leading up to the November 27 mini-polls.
