Former Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha has died aged 71, the family has confirmed.

Magoha died at the Nairobi Hospital today, January 24, at around 5:30pm.

He had been rushed to the facility after he collapsed at his Nairobi home at around 5pm.

Efforts by medics to resuscitate him were unsuccessful.

A member of former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s cabinet said Magoha had been ailing for a while and would occasionally be excused to seek treatment.

Magoha served as the CS for Education until his replacement by Ezekiel Machogu in President William Ruto’s administration on October 27, 2022.

On January 17, he landed a job at Maseno University in Kisumu County as the Professor of Surgery at the School of Medicine.

Magoha, a urologist by specialisation, served as the chairperson of the Kenya Association of Urological Surgeons (KAUS) from 1997 to 2013.

He undertook his primary education in Yala, Siaya County, and Nairobi before joining Starehe Boys Centre and Strathmore College for his high school education.

He then proceeded to the University of Lagos in Nigeria, where he studied Medicine. He furthered his studies in Surgery and Urology at Lagos University Teaching Hospital, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin, Ireland and Royal Postgraduate Medical School Hammersmith Hospital, London, Department of Urology.

Prof. Magoha established his career in surgery at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital as an intern and rose to the position of Senior Resident and Clinical Lecturer in Surgery.

He also served as a lecturer in the same hospital and as a Consultant Surgeon in various leading hospitals in Lagos, Nigeria.

Prof. Magoha joined the University of Nairobi as a lecturer in Urological Surgery in 1988 and rose through the ranks to become a full Professor of Surgery in 2000.

He has served in various administrative positions at the university, rising from the chairperson of the Academic Department of Surgery in 1999, Dean of the School of Medicine, Principal of the College of Health Sciences, Deputy Vice-Chancellor in charge of Administration and Finance to Vice-Chancellor in January 2005.

Prof. Magoha has published more than 60 peer-reviewed publications and supervised to completion of more than 40 Master of Medicine (Surgery) students.

He is a member of many professional bodies in Urology and Surgery including British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS), Société Internationale d’Urologie (SIU), among others.

He is actively involved in research in male erectile dysfunction, prostate, testicular and penile cancers, circumcision and HIV/AIDs.

The surgery professor is married to Dr. Barbara O. Magoha, with whom they have a son, Dr. Michael Magoha.

On the University of Nairobi profile, Magoha listed his interests as reading international affairs, walking and jogging, listening to classical music, reading history and gardening and tree planting.