KAMPALA — President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has expressed condolences to the family of former Kenyan politician Cyrus Jirongo, saying he only recently learnt that the veteran politician died in a road accident in December 2025.
In a message posted on Monday, September 21, 2026, President Museveni described Jirongo as “a good and patriotic leader” who served Kenya with dedication.
“I have just learnt that Senator Cyrus Jirongo passed away last December in a motor accident. I was not aware that he had died. This is very sad,” Museveni said.
“My condolences go to his family, relatives, friends and the people of Kenya. May his soul rest in peace,” he added.
Jirongo, 64, was a former Member of Parliament for Lugari Constituency and served as a Cabinet minister during the administration of former President Daniel arap Moi.
He died on December 13, 2025, in a road crash at Karai along the Nairobi–Nakuru Highway after the Mercedes-Benz he was driving collided head-on with a passenger bus.
Kenya’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations opened an inquiry into the circumstances of the crash. In January 2026, the DCI said preliminary investigations indicated that the incident was a road traffic accident and that there was no evidence pointing to foul play.
Jirongo and Uganda’s fuel procurement
Museveni’s condolence message comes a day after he identified Jirongo as the Kenyan politician who alerted him around 2019 that Uganda was purchasing petroleum products through middlemen in Kenya.
In his birthday statement released on September 20, Museveni said Jirongo’s information prompted him to task then Energy Minister Irene Muloni with addressing the issue.
“It was a Kenyan Senator called Jirongo who told me this around 2019. I immediately tasked the then Minister Irene Muloni to sort out that mess,” Museveni said.
Museveni said Uganda did not change the procurement arrangement immediately but eventually entered into an agreement with Vitol in 2023.
According to figures cited by the President, the initial agreement dated August 18, 2023, reduced the stated purchase price per metric tonne of diesel from US$118 to US$83, petrol from US$97.50 to US$61.50 and aviation fuel from US$114.25 to US$79.25.
Museveni also credited Kenyan President William Ruto with helping Uganda secure the new arrangement, saying Kenya subsequently allowed Uganda to transport petroleum products through its oil pipeline and acquire a 20.15% shareholding.
The President said the fuel procurement changes were aimed at reducing costs associated with the earlier system involving intermediaries.
Questions over timing
Museveni’s remarks have generated renewed discussion in Kenya about petroleum procurement arrangements, but Jirongo’s reported warning to Museveni in 2019 predates Kenya’s government-to-government fuel import programme introduced in 2023.
Kenyan officials have defended the 2023 arrangement, while some politicians have called for parliamentary scrutiny of the agreements and pricing.
The timing has also prompted questions from some Kenyan political figures about whether Jirongo’s death could have been connected to the information he allegedly shared with Museveni.
However, Kenya’s DCI has previously said its investigation found no evidence of foul play in Jirongo’s death. The agency said it interviewed witnesses and persons who had interacted with Jirongo before the crash and continued reviewing information surrounding the incident.
Museveni’s latest message did not suggest any connection between Jirongo’s death and the fuel procurement issue. Instead, he focused on mourning the former Kenyan lawmaker and conveying his condolences to his family and the people of Kenya.
