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Life after Uhuru: Ex-CS George Magoha goes back to teaching job

By Rushdie Oudia January 17th, 2023 2 min read

Former Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Prof George Magoha has joined Maseno University as Professor of Surgery at its School of Medicine.

Prof Magoha’s return to the academia has been well received by the university, whose Director of Public Relations, Dr Owen McOnyango, said having the tough-talking former CS is a valuable development.

Dr McOnyango added that Prof Magoha’s experience will go a long way in benefitting both graduate and post-graduate students.

“He is an asset to us due to his vast experience and strong professional background. Our School of Medicine is relatively new and to get an experienced and strong personality like Magoha is definitely a plus for us,” said Dr McOnyango.

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Prof Stephen Ogendo, the Dean at the School of Medicine, said Prof Magoha’s networks would benefit the institution.

“Apart from his academic standing, his networks will definitely benefit Maseno and enable us to develop ourselves even more,” said Prof Ogendo.

Before being appointed to cabinet five years ago, Prof Magoha served as Vice-Chancellor at the University of Nairobi (UoN) for 10 years (2005 to 2015). He also served as a Professor of Urological and Transplant Surgery at UoN’s College of Health Sciences. His medical career includes work and training in Nigeria, Ghana, Ireland and the United Kingdom. He also trained in Executive Management at Stanford University.

In Nigeria, he began his career as an intern in Surgery at Lagos University Teaching Hospital and rose to become Senior Resident and Clinical Lecturer in Surgery. He later joined UoN as a Lecturer in Urological Surgery in 1988 and rose through the ranks to become a full Professor of Surgery in 2000.

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Maseno’s School of Medicine was established in 2011 and had the graduation of its first cohort in 2019. Three more followed in 2020, 2021 and 2022

Dr McOnyango says the School of Medicine was intended to also handle referral cases that are usually taken to Nairobi or Eldoret.

Prof Magoha served in former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration as Education CS from March 2019 after Dr Fred Matiang’i left the ministry for Interior.

As CS, he implemented the 100 percent transition for all learners from primary school to secondary school level. He also oversaw the implementation of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).

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roudia@ke.nationmedia.com