The white Probox raising many questions in Jirongo's last moments

The final hours of late politician Cyrus Jirongo have taken a dramatic turn, with police now zeroing in on Park Place along Magadi Road in Karen as the last known location he visited before his tragic death in a road accident.

After spending the evening at Karen Oasis with National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula and city real estate mogul Rebman Malala, Jirongo reportedly told friends he was heading to his Gigiri home, only for evidence to point in a different direction.

Investigators have since visited Park Place, interviewing staff and management in a bid to piece together the timeline of Jirongo’s movements. The new leads could finally reveal how, when and why he left the establishment before making his way towards Naivasha.

The hotel management, however, said they could not comment on the matter as it was under investigation and immediately hung up when The Sunday Standard reached them, promising to speak at a later date.

As this unfolded, The Sunday Standard obtained CCTV footage of the final five minutes of Jirongo’s life, raising more questions about his death.

The footage shows a white Probox seemingly trailing Jirongo’s vehicle—an angle police investigators appear to have ignored.

It also captures the actual crash that killed him and moments after the accident, as frantic efforts were made to rescue him from the wreckage of his Mercedes-Benz, which was hit by a Climax Coach bus.

A week after the fatal crash, the mystery surrounding the death of the former Lugari lawmaker continues to fuel speculation.

The Sunday Standard can now reveal Jirongo’s final moments as captured in the CCTV footage, showing the brutal death of a man who had on many occasions openly spoken about death and expressed fear for his life.

At 2:18:45 a.m., CCTV captures Jirongo’s white Mercedes-Benz, registration KCZ 350C, approaching Eagol Petrol Station along the Naivasha–Nakuru Highway. He drives into the station but does not stop or alight, seemingly intent on making a U-turn.

He remains at the station briefly and does not fuel. Two seconds later, at 2:18:57 a.m., a suspicious Probox vehicle, registration KDJ 564E, closely follows his car. CCTV footage shows the Probox had three visible occupants.

The Probox enters the station and parks at pump number two. A man wearing a white shirt and grey trousers exits holding a water bottle.

He is seen walking towards where Jirongo’s car is parked and, five seconds later, returns to the Probox. A second man emerges from the back right seat of the Probox and partially opens the bonnet.

He engages in an animated conversation with the man holding the water bottle. The two speak briefly as a third man opens the co-driver’s door, peeks out, and all three look in the direction of Jirongo’s car.

One man points in that direction and hastily closes the bonnet. Curiously, no oil, coolant or water is added to the engine, defeating the purpose of opening it. The driver is then seen hurriedly cleaning the Probox windscreen as the others get back into the vehicle.

At 2:20:10 a.m., the Probox follows Jirongo’s car.

Jirongo’s Mercedes spent about 17 seconds within the petrol station, and he did not alight from the vehicle.

The footage then shows his car rejoining the highway, where tragedy unfolds at 2:19:14 a.m. The Mercedes makes a right turn towards Nairobi from Naivasha—the same direction he had come from.

At 2:19:23 a.m., a Climax bus is seen approaching at high speed from Nairobi towards Nakuru. Two seconds later, at 2:19:25 a.m., the bus collides head-on with Jirongo’s vehicle.

The shocking footage reveals the bus was travelling at high speed. The force of the impact drags the Mercedes approximately 25 metres along the highway, while the Climax bus comes to a stop about 50 metres from the point of collision.

The CCTV footage shows no immediate response, with no one alighting from either vehicle to check on the situation. Moments after the crash, smoke is seen billowing from Jirongo’s car.

At around 2:20 a.m., one person approaches the wreck to check on the Mercedes. At approximately 2:48 a.m.—nearly 29 minutes after the crash—a crowd begins to gather at the scene.

It remains unclear how long Jirongo remained trapped inside the vehicle, which lay in the middle of the highway, as other vehicles are seen on CCTV diverting around the wreck while traffic continued to build up.

The bus driver, identified as Tyrus Kamau Githinji, has been interrogated by homicide detectives. He initially recorded a statement at the Naivasha Traffic Base following the accident.

“Tyrus is out on cash bail pending further investigations into the offence of causing death by dangerous driving,” the DCI confirmed, adding that he is required to report back to the traffic base on December 22.

Efforts to reach senior police officials for an update on the investigations and clarification on the white Probox were unsuccessful, as calls went unanswered.

A junior officer attached to the investigation team said the video debunks claims circulating on social media that the former legislator had dropped off a female passenger at the petrol station.

A postmortem report has established that Jirongo died from blunt force trauma resulting from severe crush injuries to the chest sustained in the accident, according to government pathologist Johansen Oduor and family-appointed pathologist Joseph Ndungu. The postmortem was conducted at Lee Funeral Home in Nairobi.

The family pathologist said Jirongo sustained extensive chest injuries, including a perforated heart, as well as abdominal injuries.

“There were two fractures in the right hand, fractures on both legs, multiple rib fractures, perforation of the heart, extensive chest injuries, bleeding in the chest cavity and crush injuries extending into the abdomen,” said Dr Ndungu. He added that there was rupture of major blood vessels connected to the heart.

The autopsy also revealed bleeding into the chest cavity, liver injuries, bleeding in the abdominal cavity and transection of the spinal cord at the thoracic level. The pathologists concluded that Jirongo died as a result of severe chest injuries caused by the crash.

According to family doctor Martin Wanyoike, the injuries sustained were unsurvivable.

“As a heart doctor, I witnessed very severe injury to the heart. We are sincerely sorry to the family,” Wanyoike said.

After the accident, the bus driver was briefly detained and later released as investigations continued.

Jirongo’s close friend and one of the last people to speak to him, George Khaniri, believes there is more to Jirongo’s deviation towards Naivasha than meets the eye.

“I met him at 7 p.m. at Karen Oasis. He was seated with Speaker Wetangula and Rebman Malala. They were having a good time. I finished my business and left,” said Khaniri.

He said that at 10:58 p.m. he called Jirongo jokingly asking why he was still out yet they had a meeting the next day.

“I asked him why he was still having fun when Kisia, him and I had an important meeting the next day. He told me he had finished and was just about to go home. There was no mention of Naivasha,” said Khaniri, whose phone records show the call ended at 11:03 p.m. Philip Kisia is a former Nairobi town clerk.

After hearing of the crash, Khaniri called Rebman Malala, who confirmed that Jirongo left the venue a few minutes after the phone call, heading towards his Gigiri home.

At 3:23 a.m., Khaniri received a call from Jirongo’s wife asking him to urgently drive to Naivasha, saying her husband had been involved in a car accident.

“This was very strange. There is no way Jirongo drove to Naivasha when he left Karen—unless someone took him there. The meeting the next day was too important. He wouldn’t have done anything to miss it,” Khaniri said.

“If he felt too tired after drinking, he would often park by the roadside and sleep for a while. He has done that all his life. Why would he suddenly decide to drive to Naivasha at midnight?”

The former Vihiga senator arrived in Naivasha to find the lifeless body of his friend at the scene.

“He had broken both ankles and one arm. There was a slight bruise on his face and a small cut above his eye. That does not match claims that he died of head injuries. Such conclusions can only be made after an autopsy,” Khaniri said, questioning how the body was moved and who called an ambulance.

At Naivasha Police Station, relatives, officers and members of the public milled around the wrecked Mercedes.

The front was completely smashed, oil was still leaking, the steering wheel was missing and the right rear bumper was hanging—evidence of the high-impact collision.

Inside the vehicle, personal effects including a gold-coated bracelet and plastic cups littered the floor.

Notably, there were no bloodstains in the car, though the front airbags had deployed, indicating the force of impact. The back seats remained intact.

Near the station gate, the bus—with minimal damage to its lower front section—was parked by the roadside.

A few metres from Eagol Petrol Station, shattered glass mixed with diesel remained visible along the busy highway hours after the wreckage had been towed away.

Conspicuously absent were the 67 passengers from the bus, who had already proceeded to Western Kenya.

The bus driver, Kamau, appeared calm as he repeatedly narrated what happened. He said only the conductor—who was absent—suffered minor hand injuries that did not require treatment.

Kamau, who has worked with the bus company for eight years, said another bus was sent to pick up the passengers after the accident.

He blamed Jirongo for the crash, saying the deceased joined the highway and failed to keep his lane.

“I had 67 passengers on board. If I had swerved, I could have killed all of them. We ended up in a head-on collision with the car carrying the politician,” he said.