Beyond politics, power and fame, Cyrus Jirongo lived a personal life that mirrored the same audacity with which he walked the public stage. He was openly polygamous, not in whispers or scandals, but in full view of the nation at a time when many lived double lives behind closed doors.

Jirongo had four known active wives, each from a different community, a reflection of both his personal choices and the country’s rich diversity. His family brought together Joan Chemutai Kimeto (Kalenjin), Christine Nyokabi Kimani (Kikuyu), Ann Kanini (Kamba), and Anne Lanoi Pertet (Maasai), a heritage under one roof. To him this was not controversy, it was life, culture and honesty.

What made Jirongo’s polygamy remarkable was not the number, but the principle behind it. He repeatedly emphasized unity over division and insisted that in Luhya culture a man doesn’t count his wives or children, so accurately he couldn’t tell how many wives or children he had.

In October 2021 in an interview with Citizen tv, Cyrus Jirongo said:

“We do not count children where we come from. We say we have many children, so I have many. They are several, There is nothing like this child belongs to this or that mother. They all come from my house.”

Jirongo at one point had a mini-bus that ferried his children to and from Makini School and the bus was full with mini-Jirongos. His children grew up together and went to the same school together, a vivid image of a man who chose inclusion over secrecy.

In his own words:

“People hide mistresses. I do not hide. Whatever the product, it is my product.”

Jirongo argued that the law allows polygamy, and he saw no reason to live dishonestly in a society where many practiced the same in secrecy. To him, openness was integrity.

Even in death, Jirongo leaves behind more than political headlines. He leaves a complex legacy of family, one built on recognition, responsibility and radical honesty. His many wives and children by his own description, stand as proof of a man who refused to fragment his life.

He departs having lived loudly, loved expansively, and challenged society to confront its own contradictions. History will debate him. But it will never accuse him of hiding.

Rip Cyrus Jirongo.