By Peter Mwibanda
Legal and Political Analyst and Commentator, Intellectuals Post
NAIROBI, Kenya — Cyrus Jirongo lived the kind of political life that Kenya both celebrates and consumes. He was ambitious, audacious and transactional to the core — a deal maker who moved faster than caution, and cut so deep that, in the end, he wounded himself.
To understand Jirongo is to understand a political system that rewards ferocity briefly, then discards its most aggressive enforcers when they outlive their usefulness.
A Personal Encounter With Power
My clearest memory of Jirongo is not from newspaper headlines, but from a quiet visit to his office in Westlands.
I was younger then, hopeful, determined to vie for a Member of County Assembly seat in Misikhu Ward. I expected the usual political ritual — long negotiations, financial demands, promises tied to loyalty. Instead, Jirongo did something that startled me.
He looked at me, blinked, and offered me a nomination certificate — without asking for a cent. He then reached into his pocket, gave me money for my campaign, and told me something I have never forgotten: try, no matter the challenges.
It was a generous act. It was also revealing.
Jirongo believed deeply in momentum — in movement over hesitation. He backed ambition instinctively, sometimes recklessly. That same instinct built him up. It also destroyed him.
The Rise of a Feared Kingmaker
When I was growing up, Jirongo was spoken of in hushed, almost mythic tones. In the KANU era, he was feared — a political enforcer, mobilizer and kingmaker who understood power not as ideology, but as leverage.
He mastered the machinery of patronage. He knew how to assemble numbers, reward loyalty and punish defiance. For a time, that made him indispensable.
In Kenyan politics, indispensability is intoxicating — and temporary.
Deals, Debts and Abandoned Alliances
Jirongo’s greatest strength was his willingness to cut deals where others hesitated. But those deals often went too far, too fast.
Alliances were made and abandoned. Political bridges were crossed and burned. Financial risks were taken on the assumption that power would remain close enough to guarantee protection.
It rarely does.
As the system shifted, so did loyalties. The same networks that once amplified Jirongo’s influence began to isolate him. Crushing debts mounted. Legal and political pressures closed in. What followed was not just decline, but relentless persecution — some deserved, some arguably excessive, all unforgiving.
Kenya’s political order does not age its warriors gently.
A System That Uses and Discards
Jirongo’s story exposes an uncomfortable truth: Kenya’s political system rewards royalty for a moment, then devours it.
Aggressive enforcers are celebrated when they deliver results. They are tolerated when they demand too much. And they are abandoned when they become inconvenient.
There are no pensions for kingmakers. No safety nets for men who mistake proximity to power for permanence.
Ambition, in this system, is both currency and curse.
A Complicated Legacy
Jirongo was not a saint. He was not a victim in the simple sense. He made choices — bold, sometimes reckless ones — and lived with their consequences.
Yet to reduce him to scandal or downfall alone would be dishonest.
He believed in trying. He believed in backing the audacious. He believed that politics was not for the timid. In a rare moment of generosity, he extended that belief to a young aspirant without conditions.
That contradiction — generosity wrapped in ruthlessness — defined him.
The Lesson He Leaves Behind
Cyrus Jirongo’s life is a cautionary tale for a new generation of Kenyan politicians. Power borrowed from the system is never owned. Deals cut too deep eventually bleed their maker. And ambition without restraint can outrun loyalty, law and time.
His rise was dramatic. His fall was painful. Together, they form a mirror Kenya must be willing to look into.
Because until the system changes, Jirongo will not be the last kingmaker to be crowned — or the last to be discarded.
Peter Mwibanda is a Kenyan legal and political analyst and commentator. He writes for Intellectuals Post on governance, power and political accountability.
