Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has expressed condolences to the family of former Kenyan politician Cyrus Jirongo, saying he had only recently learnt that Jirongo had died.
The remarks came days after Museveni identified Jirongo as the Kenyan politician who alerted him in 2019 to concerns over Uganda’s Government-to-Government (G-to-G) petroleum supply arrangement.
Museveni said Jirongo had told him that Uganda was obtaining petroleum products through intermediaries in Kenya rather than through a direct government arrangement.
“It was a Kenyan “Senator” called Jirongo who told me this around 2019,” Museveni said in remarks reported on Sunday. He said he had subsequently instructed Uganda’s then Energy Minister Irene Muloni to address the issue.
Jirongo, however, was not a sitting Kenyan senator. He served as the Member of Parliament for Lugari and later held a Cabinet position under former President Daniel arap Moi. He unsuccessfully contested a Senate seat in 2013.
Museveni says he was unaware of Jirongo’s death
The revelation about Jirongo’s role was followed by Museveni’s acknowledgement that he had not known the politician had died.
“I have just learnt that ‘Senator Cyrus Jirongo‘ passed away last December in a motor accident. I was not aware that he had died,” Museveni said in a statement on Monday.
He described Jirongo as a patriotic Kenyan who had served his country with dedication.
“This is very sad. Jirongo was a good and patriotic leader who served his country with dedication. We shall miss him,” Museveni said, extending his condolences to Jirongo’s family, friends and Kenyans.
Jirongo died on December 13, 2025, in a road crash at Karai on the Nairobi-Nakuru Highway. Kenya’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations said the crash involved his vehicle and a passenger bus.
The DCI later said it had recorded statements from witnesses and examined CCTV footage as part of its investigation into the circumstances surrounding the crash.
Oil dispute draws responses from Kenya
Museveni has linked Jirongo’s 2019 warning to Uganda’s decision to change how it sourced petroleum products.
He said Uganda had previously paid a higher premium for diesel under the earlier arrangement. According to Museveni, the cost was about $118 per metric tonne, compared with $83 under Uganda’s current arrangement involving Vitol and the Uganda National Oil Company.
Kenya’s Ministry of Energy has rejected allegations of irregularities in the supply and importation of refined petroleum products under the G-to-G arrangement, adding another dimension to the dispute.
Uganda has since strengthened the role of its state-owned petroleum company, UNOC, which has been designated as the country’s sole mandated importer of petroleum products under legislation enacted in 2023. UNOC has also confirmed an ongoing fuel supply arrangement with Vitol Bahrain.
Museveni’s comments have therefore placed Jirongo, who died months before the latest dispute erupted publicly, at the centre of a fresh debate over how petroleum was sourced and supplied between Kenya and Uganda.
The claims about the earlier G-to-G arrangement remain contested, with Uganda and Kenya offering different accounts of the issues surrounding the fuel-supply system.
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