Driver of Climax Coaches Bus Narrates How Cyrus Jirongo's Car Crashed

The driver of the passenger bus that collided with the car of the late Cyrus Jirongo has given his account of the tragedy.

Tirus Kamau was behind the wheel of the Climax Coaches bus that Jirongo's vehicle rammed into at the Karai area in Naivasha along the Nairobi-Nakuru Highway on the dawn of Saturday, December 13. 

According to the driver, Jirongo was alone in the Nairobi-bound car coming from Nakuru.

Jirongo was driving from a petrol station when he dashed toward the highway and got to the wrong lane.

The bus was on its way to Busia, coming from Nairobi.

According to Kamau, who has worked for Climax Coaches for eight years, the vehicle, a Mercedes-Benz, was escaping a traffic jam on its lane and got into the opposite lane, on which the Climax bus was fast-approaching.

The 52-year-old said he strove to escape Jirongo's vehicle, but all was in vain. He said it was impossible to escape it as the bus risked going down.

With no way out, the bus driver applied the brakes, and the small vehicle rammed into the bus.

"The Mercedes was coming from a petrol station as I headed toward Busia from Nairobi. He didn't give way. He got to the road and saw his side had traffic jam. He decided to come to my lane, and we collided head-on. The bus had 65 passengers. I tried saving him, but I felt my bus would go down. I braked, and he came ramming into the bus. I had not known who the person was, but when the police came, I learnt he was Cyrus Jirongo. I'm so sorry," a remorseful Kamau said.

Meanwhile, the police corroborated the account of Kamau, noting that the vehicle driven by Jirongo was in the wrong lane.

"The accident occurred today at about 0300 hrs in the Karai area along the Nakuru-Naivasha Highway. It happened that one Cyrus Jirongo, aged 64 years, was driving a motor vehicle reg. no. KCZ 305C, make M/Benz, from the Nakuru direction heading towards the Nairobi direction, and upon reaching the location of the accident, he failed to keep to its inner lane and collided head-on with the oncoming motor vehicle, Climax Company," read an excerpt of a police report seen by Nairobi Leo.

According to the police, Jirongo sustained critical head injuries and succumbed to them on the spot.

The body was booked into the Naivasha Sub-County Hospital morgue ahead of the autopsy.

The wreckage of the ill-fated vehicles was towed to the police station ahead of further police action.

Jirongo was a known political figure from Western Kenya.

He is known to have been among the top stalwarts of the late Daniel Moi, under whose government he served as a minister.

Jirongo also represented Lugari Constituency in the National Assembly for ten years between 1997 and 2002 and between 2007 and 2013.