Loved and hated, Prof. Magoha is the last man standing in President Uhuru's Cabinet

Education Cabinet Secretary Prof George Magoha, the man with a 91-page curriculum vitae, is a civil servant loved and loathed in equal measure. Soon after his appointment to the key Education docket, the leading surgeon and former University of Nairobi Vice-Chancellor ran into trouble when he dismissed certain university courses as 'useless'. Among those who took him on was communications consultant, Barrack Muluka: "An overly exuberant George Omore Magoha has arrived in Jogoo House B breathing fire and brimstone. He behaves like an inebriated wild elephant. Used to exercising power in timid and passive environments, he trundles up and down, spewing threats left, right and centre - spreading fear. "I served on the University of Nairobi Council in 2010 - 2013 when Prof Magoha was the VC. It did not escape my attention that spreading fear is his greatest management and leadership tool. He threatens to trample everyone and everything underfoot 'because they are useless' while he 'knows everything'. Newly arrived in Jogoo House, he has picked up the hackneyed script of 'useless university degrees'," Muluka fumed. It was one of the countless missiles that would fly in Magoha's direction throughout his tenure as Education CS. But Magoha braved on, threatening to 'trample everyone and everything underfoot'. And yet whenever in the President's presence, the eminent professor would turn into a fawning lackey, addressing "His Excellency" at every turn. At the tail end of Uhuru's tenure, while many of his colleagues either bailed out to run for political office and those who remained faded out of the picture with William Ruto being declared president-elect, Magoha continued with his ministerial tasks, oblivious of the political distractions swirling around him. Between election day and the Supreme Court ruling that upheld Ruto's win, Magoha toured at least 12 counties and visited over 45 secondary schools across the country to launch CBC classrooms for junior secondary school. It is a measure of the man that on September 5 when the whole country's attention was on the Supreme Court, Magoha was launching CBC classrooms at Dagoretti High School. During his tours, he has denied looking for a job. "I am serving President Kenyatta and before he leaves, you will see me working and when he stops, I will also stop. I just want to complete the work," Magoha said while launching a CBC classroom in Nairobi School. "I have not asked anybody to retain me as a Cabinet Secretary in the next government contrary to the rumours being peddled," Magoha added. And while at Dagoretti High School, Magoha announced that already 20,000 CBC classrooms have been completed and are ready for occupancy. But he has not ruled out working in a Ruto Cabinet. "I am not looking for a job, you can take that to the bank. Nobody should mistake me that I am completing this work in order to be seen that I want this job. But if in his wisdom the president-elect thought that I could even be half worthy to be considered, we will have a conversation with him because I have now connected with the children, the poor children," he said after the verdict. "If we are thinking in the same direction and he gives me the support that I require, which means that I do things the way he wants and not any other person if it is God's will I will say yes," Magoha said on Tuesday during a tour of Langata Sub-county. It is during his many tours that the CS has created waves, sometimes with rib-cracking jokes and, most times, rubbing his juniors and the public the wrong way with an ill-thought-out remark. While attending the Kenya Secondary Head Teachers Association (KESSHA) conference in Mombasa, he told the teachers that he is mistaken for being proud and arrogant. Sura mbaya "I will explain to you the way I look, najua niko na sura mbaya (I have an ugly face) but my strength and firmness comes from God. I am a professor and am proud of myself. As teachers, you also need to proud of yourselves," said Magoha. He said anybody who went through Starehe Boys was taught to be a servant leader as opposed to being arrogant. "Teachers are thinkers and not activists. Any teacher who has converted himself into an activist should leave the noble profession," said Magoha In June, Magoha vowed to take stern action against teachers preying on their pupils, saying those found will face stern action. Not surprisingly, Magoha's light remarks have sometimes boomeranged, leaving egg on his face as happened on July 13 at Pumwani Girls and Pumwani Boys schools when he inquired if a female Muslim journalist was 'Al-Shaabab'. The Media Council of Kenya (MCK) and Muslim clerics asked the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) to take stern action against Magoha. The uproar forced Magoha to eat humble pie, a rarity for the rambunctious urologist and scholar. "He humbled himself before us and apologised to the lady directly," National Muslim Leaders Forum (NAMLEF) Chairman Abdullahi Abdi said. Retirement plans Once he retires, Professor George Magoha has hinted that he will go back to treating diseases related to the urinary tract. Magoha revealed this on August 24 at Muhuri Muchiri Secondary School where he had visited to commission a CBC classroom. It was also the first time when he appreciated the journalists and requested them for a photo session saying the members of the Fourth estate had played a big role in his journey as Education CS. "If you have problems passing urine, don't be afraid. You can visit my hospital in Nairobi Hospital," Magoha said. Recently, Magoha announced he will retire at the end of President Uhuru Kenyatta's term this month. "I am not looking for another job, what I have is enough, I have a target to make. So I will work even on Monday and that is on the eve of elections and by that time, our target will have got higher," Magoha said. Magoha took over the office on March 26, 2019, replacing Amina Mohammed.

Loved and hated, Prof. Magoha is the last man standing in President Uhuru's Cabinet

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Loved and hated, Prof. Magoha is the last man standing in President Uhuru's Cabinet

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