Museveni learns of Jirongo's death after crediting him with oil deal tip-off

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has mourned former Kenyan Cabinet minister and Lugari MP Cyrus Jirongo, a day after revealing that the late politician was the Kenyan figure who alerted him to Uganda's use of middlemen in petroleum imports.

Museveni on September 21 said he had only recently learnt that Jirongo died in a road accident in December 2025, despite the former politician's death occurring about nine months ago.

“I have just learnt that Senator Cyrus Jirongo passed away last December in a motor accident. I was not aware that he had died. This is very sad,” Museveni said in a post on X on Monday.

The Ugandan leader described Jirongo as “a good and patriotic leader who served his country with dedication” and sent condolences to his family, relatives, friends and Kenyans.

Jirongo, however, was not a sitting senator at the time of his death. He was a former Lugari MP and former Cabinet minister.

He died on December 13, 2025, in a road accident along the Nairobi-Nakuru Highway in the Karai area of Naivasha.

President Museveni's tribute comes a day after he publicly disclosed the role Jirongo allegedly played in changing Uganda's petroleum procurement arrangements.

On September 17, during the groundbreaking ceremony for a 320-million-litre petroleum storage terminal in Mpigi District, Museveni said an unnamed Kenyan senator had alerted him around 2019 that Uganda was buying petroleum products through Kenyan middlemen.

“The Republic of Uganda was buying petroleum products through middlemen in Kenya. Can you imagine that? And the person who woke me up first was a senator from Kenya,” Museveni said.

He later on Sunday identified the politician as Jirongo, saying he immediately instructed the then Ugandan Energy Minister Irene Muloni to address the matter.

In a subsequent statement, Museveni said: “It was a Kenyan Senator called Jirongo who told me this around 2019. I immediately tasked the then Minister Irene Muloni to sort out that mess.”

Museveni said the arrangement eventually changed, with Uganda moving towards direct procurement from bulk suppliers.

According to figures Museveni cited, Uganda's previous procurement arrangement involved higher prices for petroleum products compared with the country's subsequent agreement with Vitol.

He said the price for diesel fell from $118 to $83 per metric tonne, while petrol fell from $97.50 to $61.50 and aviation fuel from $114.25 to $79.25.

Museveni said that by 2023 Uganda had linked up with Vitol, a global bulk supplier, and that the new arrangement allowed Uganda to use Kenya's oil pipeline infrastructure.

“I want to thank H.E Ruto because he prevailed over some actors in Kenya who were trying to resist,” Museveni said in the statement.

Uganda subsequently sought to give the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) a greater role in directly importing petroleum products through Kenya.

Museveni's remarks triggered a response from Kenya's Ministry of Energy, which rejected allegations of irregularities in the country's Government-to-Government petroleum supply arrangement.

Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi said Kenya's arrangement with international oil companies was developed in 2023 to address liquidity challenges arising from dollar shortages.

He said the arrangement involved Aramco Trading Fujairah FZE, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company Global Trading Ltd and Emirates National Oil Company (Singapore) Private Limited, which supplied refined petroleum products on 180-day credit terms.

Wandayi said the international oil companies subsequently appointed licensed Kenyan counterparties for local supply logistics, including Gulf Energy, Galana Energies and Oryx Energies Kenya.

As the arrangement progressed, he said more counterparties were nominated, including One Petroleum, Asharami Synergy and BE Energy.

Jirongo died after his Mercedes-Benz collided head-on with a passenger bus at Karai along the Nairobi-Nakuru Highway in the early hours of December 13, 2025.

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) subsequently opened an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the crash.

DCI later said preliminary findings indicated a road traffic accident, with no evidence pointing to foul play at that stage.