The late Professor George Magoha together with marathoner Eliud Kipchoge

The World marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge has paid a special tribute to the former Education Cabinet Secretary Professor George Magoha who  died on Tuesday at the Nairobi Hospital  following a cardiac arrest. 

Kipchoge said that the 71 year old tough talking and no nonsense academician played a resourceful role in the development of his library after commissioning it last year in August at the Kapsisiywa Secondary in Chesumei Sub County, Nandi County.

"It’s with shock that we lost Prof. George Magoha, former CS for Education who has helped me a lot building the Eliud Kipchoge Library. My heartfelt condolences go to his family, friends and entire Kenya.Rest In Peace professor." he wrote on his Twitter handle 

The library was a gift by ex President Uhuru  Kenyatta in appreciation to Kipchoge after he broke the INEOS Challenge clocking1:59 in Vienna Austria on October 12, 2019.

Kipchoge was awarded Sh100 million by the former head of state as a gift but he channeled the monies for the establishment of a library in his former school, Kapsisiywa.

“Eliud Kichoge Library whose construction works began one and half years ago is complete at a cost of Sh85million including a school gate, walkway and perimeter wall,” Magoha said.

The remaining Sh15 million will be used in the construction of 10 classrooms, an administration block and extension of the perimeter wall.

“The facility has books worth one million and 30 computers. Internet will be installed by the end of the week,” added  the fallen hero

In 2021,the double Olympic  champion and  38-year old  disclosed his  plans to build a library in every school in Kenya and to plant a forest in all 47 counties of his native country as part of the first stage of projects within the Eliud Kipchoge Foundation.

"My next step in education is that I want to build a library in every local school in Kenya - not just where I come from but all over Kenya.

"I believe that if the students can get that knowledge, if they can access books in their neighbourhood, they can uplift the community.

"I also have the idea of starting a kindergarten, which is the foundation of education.

"Education is the foundation of knowledge, and I can already say the kindergarten is foundation of a human being, because that’s the space where a human being is moulded.

"In terms of conservation I want to adopt a forest in every county in Kenya - we have 47  counties in Kenya - to promote conservation in [the] whole country" he was quoted.

Known for his rigorous and stern actions in pursuit of changes, the late Prof Magoha is credited with among others introducing the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) whose focus more is on the child’s talents and skills hence steering learners away from exam-oriented learning.

News of his death came just days after Maseno University announced that he would be joining the institution as a professor of surgery at its School of Medicine.

Before being appointed to cabinet five years ago, Prof Magoha served as Vice-Chancellor at the University of Nairobi (UoN) for ten 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.