Though he is reported to be undergoing a financial crisis currently, former Lugari Member of Parliament Cyrus Jirongo was some years back ranked among the wealthiest Kenyans.
Jirongo would achieve more fame in 1992 when he headed the Youth for Kanu group popularly known as YK92 then, a team whose main aim was to popularise then President Daniel Moi and his Independence Party.
And though most of the group’s activities were not considered good, it was popular for its generosity and notable cash flow, with there being allegations that Moi allowed over-printing of currency to enable it to propagate his agenda.
The money, mostly in new and freshly-minted 500 shilling notes was generously dished out to the public during campaigns, as Moi sought to prolong his stay at the helm of the government.
As the group leader and a rich man himself, Jirongo would end up being associated with the Ksh500 notes and declared the owner of all such notes in the nation.
To further rub it in, Kenyans went ahead to name the currency after Jirongo, though the president’s face remained on each note.
And since Kenyans would obviously associate his wealth to his role and closeness to Moi, Jirongo has since maintained that he was richer before he took over the group, adding that it actually destroyed him financially.
“I was a billionaire by the age of 30. YK never made me, it destroyed me financially,” he told the Nation in June 2016.
However, Jirongo was recently declared bankrupt.
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