David Murathe, Jubilee vice chairperson, said late Cyrus Jirongo, former Lugari MP, helped make Uhuru Kenyatta president.
He spoke at a requiem mass at CITAM Valley Road on Saturday, December 27, 2025. The event honored Jirongo. Murathe said the businessman-turned-politician built many political paths. He played a big part in events that lifted retired President Uhuru Kenyatta to power.
Murathe remembered 2002. KANU party leaders, then in power, eyed the spot after President Daniel arap Moi. Many stated their goals openly. But Murathe said Jirongo talked Moi into picking Uhuru as KANU’s candidate.
Uhuru then ran against his future predecessor, late President Mwai Kibaki, in the 2002 election.
Jirongo made Uhuru president. He stayed close to Nyayo. He pressed Nyayo so much in Kapsokwony that Moi said everyone in the party wanted the job.
Murathe grieved Jirongo as a sharp businessman who closed huge deals. Jirongo died in a road crash near Naivasha in the Kerela area.
On Jirongo’s business deals, Murathe said if you asked him to write a multibillion-dollar deal, he would grab pen and paper and get it done fast.
Days before his death, Jirongo worked on fresh deals. Murathe shared details. One was in Libya. Another sat in Ruai. He also had a carbon credits deal with Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni.
Murathe thought these plans upset some strong people.
Cyrus closed big deals. Some were real. Some seemed out of reach. But hand him pen and paper. He would write a multimillion-dollar one.
He worked on a few right then. He told me about rebuilding Libya. His Ruai project. Carbon credits with Museveni. Most of all, he loved Kenya. He wanted steady rule and bold leaders.
