The family of the late Cyrus Jirongo had a hard time accepting that their patriarch had indeed died.
The former Lugari MP died in a tragic road accident on the Nairobi-Nakuru Highway on December 13.
Anne Jirongo is one of Jirongo's widows.
Addressing mourners during Jirongo's requiem mass in Nairobi on Saturday, December 27, Anne recalled the last moments she had with her husband before the accident.
On December 12, they spent time briefly outside a shopping mall in Nairobi, with Jirongo briefing her on his day's plans.
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"On the 12th of December, on Jamhuri Day, Cyrus called me at around 12:34 pm, and we spoke for about 3 minutes and 45 seconds. He called again at around 2:30 am and asked me where I was, and I told him that I was in the supermarket. He said he wanted to see me, so he drove to where I was...He told me he was going to dream and build my castles in the office, but later he would be going to see Speaker Wetang'ula," Anne recalled.
She revealed that the call to break the sad news to her came at around 3:20 am, December 13.
Seeing her husband's call ringing, she was shocked to hear a stranger on the other end of the call.
Her worst fears were immediately confirmed. The phone call informed her that her husband had been involved in a road accident.
They immediately left for Naivasha, where Jirongo's car had crashed.
According to her, the news wasn't clear to her, as she wondered how Jirongo got himself to Naivasha when he was in Karen the last time they spoke and was to travel to his home in Gigiri.
"I immediately asked my daughter Sonia to accompany me, and we started driving towards Naivasha. I could also not make sense of it when I saw that the accident had occurred in Naivasha because he had no plans of travelling. So at first I thought it was a prank, but then the officer identified herself and said she was a corporal of a Naivasha police station," she added.
They finally arrived at the scene, and as they organised for a rescue mission to fly Jirongo to Nairobi, the police informed them that the accident victim had already died.
Jirongo died after his Mercedes-Benz was crashed at Karai along the Nairobi-Nakuru Highway.
A Busia-bound Climax bus ferrying passengers from Nairobi rammed into his vehicle, killing him on the spot.
According to the autopsy results, Jirongo suffered severe fractures due to the impact of the accident.
Meanwhile, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) is probing the circumstances of the death, with the bus driver already on the police radar.
The deceased politician will be laid to rest at his native home in Lumakanda, Kakamega County, on December 30.
