Jubilee vice chairperson David Murathe has stated that the late former Lugari Member of Parliament (MP) Cyrus Jirongo played a key role in making Uhuru Kenyatta president.

Speaking during a requiem mass held at CITAM Valley Road on Saturday, December 27, 2025, to bid farewell to the late Jirongo, Murathe said the businessman-turned-politician shaped many political careers and played a crucial role in the events that eventually saw retired President Uhuru Kenyatta rise to power.

He recalled the events of 2002, noting that at the time, many leaders within the then-ruling KANU party were positioning themselves to succeed President Daniel arap Moi.

While several politicians openly declared their ambitions, Murathe claimed it was Jirongo who persuaded President Moi, a move that led to Uhuru Kenyatta being settled on as the KANU flag bearer.

Uhuru would later go on to face his predecessor, the late former President Mwai Kibaki, in the 2002 General Election.

“It was Jirongo who made Uhuru president; it was Jirongo who stuck bumper to bumper with Nyayo. He pushed Nyayo to a point in Kapsokwony where Moi declared everyone in the party was interested,” he said.

Murathe mourned Jirongo as an astute businessman who signed major business deals. Jirongo died following a road accident that occurred in the Kerela area near Naivasha town.

Jirongo’s business deals

Murathe narrated that during his lifetime, if asked to draft a multibillion-dollar business deal, Jirongo would simply take a pen and paper and do it with ease.

He noted that in the days leading to his death, Jirongo was still actively working on several business deals. He revealed that the late leader was involved in a deal in Libya, another project in Ruai, and a carbon credits business deal involving Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

According to Murathe, these ventures may have rattled powerful figures along the way.

“Cyrus worked out big deals, some real and some in the sky, but give him a pen and paper and he could craft a multimillion-dollar deal.

“He was already working on some; he had talked to me about the reconstruction of Libya, his project in Ruai, and carbon credits with Museveni. Above all, he loved this country and wanted stability and visionary leadership,” Murathe said.