Lawyer Danstan Omari has disclosed that the late Cyrus Jirongo gave him instructions to file court papers just days before his tragic death in a road accident along the Nairobi-Nakuru highway.
Speaking on Friday, Omari revealed that Jirongo met him at Fairview Hotel and instructed him to prepare legal documents that were scheduled to be filed in court on Monday.
However, the lawyer was left stunned when he learned of his client's sudden death.
"He came and gave me instructions at Fairview Hotel, and we were supposed to file those papers in court on Monday. I went to Mombasa, worked on those papers, but I didn't get to file those papers. Shockingly, I was told that he has passed on," Omari said.
Over the years, Omari represented Jirongo in numerous legal battles, defending him from the Chief Magistrate's Court all the way to the Supreme Court. He emphasized that their relationship had evolved beyond the typical lawyer-client dynamic.
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"He was more than a client to me. He was a friend," Omari said emotionally.
The lawyer painted a portrait of Jirongo as a resilient figure who remained steadfast in his convictions.
"A strong man. A man of strong conviction. A man who knew how to smile even at the point of adversity. A strong man who navigated the corridors of justice, fighting for what he believed. A strong man who believed in his political values and stood for them," Omari eulogized.
In an emotional appeal, Omari called on Kenyans, particularly bloggers and social media users, to allow the family space to grieve in peace. He cautioned against using Jirongo's death for political gains or creating unnecessary noise that compounds the family's pain.
"My appeal to everybody, let the family mourn quietly. Let the family respect the family of the late Cyrus Jirongo and let those agencies that are mandated to do whatever they are supposed to do by the constitution and the statutory laws deal with the issues that are coming. But my appeal is that let us mourn," Omari stated.
He specifically addressed bloggers who have been posting content online to attract views, urging them to exercise restraint and empathy.
"Those bloggers posting a lot of rubbish all over to attract views, they do not understand what it means to lose a husband, to lose a father, to lose an uncle, to lose a friend. May we be sober in this time of grieving," he added.
Omari emphasized that the family has chosen to mourn privately and has not made any public statements, requesting that Jirongo's death not be exploited for political mileage or attacks.
Jirongo died on Saturday, December 13, following a road accident that occurred in the early morning hours along the Nairobi-Nakuru highway. His vehicle collided head-on with a bus operated by Climax Company Limited.
According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the accident took place at approximately 2:19 a.m. The impact was so severe that it pushed Jirongo's vehicle about 25 metres from the collision point, while the bus stopped roughly 50 metres away.
CCTV footage retrieved from Eagol Petrol Station showed that Jirongo had driven into the station from the Nairobi direction at 2:18:40 a.m. but did not refuel.
Less than a minute later, at 2:19:10 a.m., he stopped at the station's exit before making a right turn back towards Nairobi. Within seconds, at 2:19:25 a.m., the bus collided with his vehicle.
A postmortem examination conducted by the family's pathologist, Dr. Joseph Ndung'u, determined that Jirongo died from blunt force trauma. The examination revealed severe injuries, including crush injuries to the chest and abdomen, spinal cord damage, and multiple fractures to his right hand and both legs.
Dr. Ndung'u reported that the late politician suffered extensive chest trauma with multiple rib fractures, a perforated heart, and ruptured blood vessels, along with internal bleeding in both the chest and abdominal cavities.
The spinal cord was also severed at the thoracic level.
