Friends and the community on Tuesday gathered at the Lumakanda Primary School to receive the body of former Lugari MP Cyrus Jirongo as they danced to songs and tunes

The late former MP’s body was escorted from his home, where a night vigil took place ahead of burial on Tuesday.

Different leaders are attending the funeral service at Lumakanda Primary School, after which the body will make the final journey to the home for interment.

Cyrus Jirongo was born on 21 March 1961 in Virembe Village, Shamakhokho of Tiriki in Hamisi, to the late Paul Jirongo Shakhalaga and Selina Ikonanga Jirongo.

He was the eleventh child in a family of 13, raised in a home grounded in Christian faith, discipline, and an enduring belief in hard work.

It was, however, in public life that Cyrus Jirongo became a national figure.

In 1992, he was thrust onto the political stage as Chairman of Youth for KANU ’92, where he established himself as a master mobiliser, organiser, and strategist.

His influence during this period was so pronounced that it put his erstwhile business success in jeopardy and forced him into active politics.

He served Kenya with distinction, as Chairman of AFC Leopards, as Member of Parliament for Lugari Constituency for two non-consecutive terms, as Secretary for International Relations of KANU, and as Minister for Rural Development.

Jirongo died on December 13, after his car was involved in a head-on collision with a bus ferrying passengers from Nairobi at Karai area, on the Nakuru-Nairobi highway.

The 64-year-old was travelling in his private vehicle along the Nairobi–Nakuru Highway when it collided with a passenger bus.