Cyrus Jirongo has less than 24 hours to pay Ksh.5M or face jail, court rules

Former presidential aspirant Cyrus Jirongo has been ordered to deposit a sum of Ksh.5 million or face remand.

This comes after the ex-Lugari MP was on Wednesday arraigned in court for failing to pay a Ksh.20 million debt owed to businessman Brian Yongo following a court order.

Jirongo will remain in police custody until Thursday 1pm when he is required to produce the money failure to which he will be remanded.

His lawyers asked for more time to comply with the directive saying the amount was too high and he needs to ask his friends to help, further stating that he was not a flight risk as he is a public figure.

The embattled ex-politician’s lawyers added that they had Ksh.900,000 which they were willing to pay on Wednesday but their request was denied.

“We request for more time because of the money involved. We can mention the matter on Monday to confirm compliance,” said Jirongo’s lawyers.

The decree holder, on his part, stated that he would not entertain any out of court settlement offered by Jirongo, further objecting to the application by the former legislator to be given more time up to Monday to look for the money.

In her ruling, Deputy Registrar Elizabeth Tanui noted that Jirongo has had time since August 6, 2018, adding that there was no explanation he gave as to why he did not present himself in court.

Jirongo will hence spend Wednesday night in police custody and will be required to produce the money by Thursday 1 pm failure to which he will be sent to remand at 2 pm on Thursday.