Bus driver speaks after trafgic crash that killed former MP Cyrus Jirongo

Githinji said crash happened as he was driving from Nairobi to Busia with 65 passengers on board

by SHARON MWENDE

News13 December 2025 - 12:27

In Summary

Githinji said he briefly considered swerving to avoid the impact but realised doing so could have caused the bus to overturn.
“Wakati nilijaribu kuokoa nukasikia gari yangu inaweza enda chini sasa mimi nikakanyaga akakuja kama ameniingia (I had opted to swerve, but that would have turned tragic on my end, so I continued on my lane, and he came straight at me),” he said.

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***The car driven by former Lugari MP Cyrus Jirongo during the fatal accident on December 13, 2025/HANDOUT***

The driver of the Climax Coach bus involved in the fatal road accident that claimed the life of former Lugari MP Cyrus Jirongo has given an account of the moments leading up to the collision, saying he was faced with an impossible choice on the road.

The accident occurred along the Nakuru- Naivasha Highway on Saturday, December 13, 2025.

Kamau Githinji, who has worked as a Climax Coach driver for eight years, said the crash happened early in the morning as he was driving from Nairobi to Busia with 65 passengers on board.

“I was coming from Nairobi heading to Busia,” Githinji said.

“Early in the morning, there was an accident between my bus and a Mercedes-Benz.”

According to Githinji, the Mercedes-Benz entered the highway from a petrol station and failed to give way.

“Usiku ya leo ilitokea accident. Mercedes ilikuwa inatoka kwa mafuta petrol station na mimi natoka Nairobi nikienda Busia. Mercedes hakugive way,” he recalled.

What followed, Githinji said, was a head-on collision he could not avoid without risking the lives of dozens of passengers in his bus.

“Aliingia kwa barabara na akaona pande yake gari zimeweka jam akaamua kukuja penye niko tukakutana kichwa na kichwa na yeye,” he said.

“The car had only one person, the driver, while my bus had 65 passengers.”

Githinji said he briefly considered swerving to avoid the impact but realised doing so could have caused the bus to overturn.

“Wakati nilijaribu kuokoa nukasikia gari yangu inaweza enda chini sasa mimi nikakanyaga akakuja kama ameniingia (I had opted to swerve, but that would have turned tragic on my end, so I continued on my lane, and he came straight at me),” he said.

Githinji said it was only later, when police officers reached the scene, that he learned the identity of the man who had been driving the Mercedes-Benz.

“I didn’t know the Mercedes-Benz driver was Cyrus Jirongo until the police came,” he said.

Githinji expressed condolences to Jirongo’s family, saying, “My condolences."

Jirongo, a former Lugari MP and a prominent figure in politics, sustained serious head injuries and died at the scene, police said.

His death has triggered an outpouring of condolences from political leaders, trade unionists and members of the public.