Former Lugari MP and flamboyant politician Cyrus Jirongo, who died in a road accident on December 13, 2025, led a life marked by dramatic rises and falls.
In a candid interview, his first wife, Joan Chemutai Kimeto, revealed a jaw-dropping response to his financial woes, when auctioneers visited them that transformed their marriage and shocked her profoundly.
Jirongo and Kimeto’s love story began in the mid-1980s in Nairobi’s Lang’ata estate. The young hustler, operating from public phone booths, eloped with the 18-year-old Kimeto to Mombasa after she became pregnant, defying her family’s plans for her to study abroad.
They reconciled with families, paid dowry, and built a life together as Jirongo’s fortunes soared through the Youth for KANU ’92 (YK’92) lobby group, which propelled him into wealth and politics.
At his peak, Jirongo enjoyed lavish success: a proper office, government contracts, and generosity toward family and associates.
Kimeto, a director in his Cypper Enterprises, supported his political ambitions despite reservations about his open-door policy to all seekers of help.
But in the late 1990s, everything crumbled. After President Daniel arap Moi disbanded YK’92 post-1992 elections, Jirongo fell out of favor.
Contracts stalled, payments dried up, and auctioneers relentlessly pursued his assets in a prolonged cat-and-mouse game.
It was then, Kimeto recounted, that Jirongo did the unthinkable: he began introducing woman after woman to her as his new wives. One by one, the numbers grew, turning their monogamous union into a polygamous household.
At its peak, he reportedly introduced up to 18 women as wives, a move that deeply shocked and unsettled Kimeto, accustomed to an exclusive marriage.
Though publicly known for four main wives from different ethnic communities, this phase highlighted Jirongo’s eccentric coping mechanism amid bankruptcy and asset seizures.
Kimeto later moved to the US for studies, divorcing him but maintaining contact for their children’s sake.
Jirongo’s complex personal life, blending generosity with controversy, remains a talking point as his burial approaches on December 30.
By Creatorhub