Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has expressed deep sadness after learning that veteran Kenyan politician Cyrus Jirongo died months ago in a road accident.
Museveni admitted he did not know Jirongo had passed away until recently, even though he had publicly praised him just days earlier.
On Monday, September 21, 2026, Museveni posted a message on X (formerly Twitter) saying he had just found out that Jirongo died in December 2025. “I have just learnt that Senator Cyrus Jirongo passed away last December in a motor accident. I was not aware that he had died,” he wrote.
He called the news “very sad” and sent his condolences to Jirongo’s family, friends, and the people of Kenya.
Museveni’s tribute came one day after he revealed that Jirongo was the person who warned him about a fuel import problem in 2019.
According to Museveni, Jirongo told him that Uganda was unknowingly buying petroleum products through middlemen in Kenya instead of dealing directly with suppliers.
This information pushed Uganda to change how it imports fuel, cutting out brokers and saving money.
Cyrus Jirongo, a former Member of Parliament for Lugari and a Cabinet minister under President Daniel arap Moi, died on December 13, 2025.
He was 64 years old. Police reports say his car collided head-on with a passenger bus along the Nairobi–Nakuru Highway near Karai, Naivasha, in the early hours of the morning. An autopsy showed he suffered severe crush injuries from blunt-force trauma.
In his messages, Museveni referred to Jirongo as “Senator,” but Jirongo never served in Kenya’s Senate.
He was a well-known MP and later served as Minister for Rural Development. Despite this mix-up, Museveni’s words highlighted Jirongo’s impact beyond Kenya’s borders.
Museveni described Jirongo as a “good and patriotic leader who served his country with dedication.” His sudden realization of Jirongo’s death, months after the accident, has since sparked reactions online among netizens.