The late former Education CS George Magoha was a man known not to entertain nonsense in the line of his duty and was never shy of lashing out at anyone who attempted to contradict him.
On many occasions, his press conferences and impromptu school visits always ended up with someone at the receiving end of his rage and annoyance.
Below is a compilation of some of his remarks that infuriated as much as they excited friends and foes.
May 15, 2019 when telling off then KNUT secretary general Wilson Sossion on the implementation of the competency based curriculum despite stiff opposition from the teachers union:
“There was a cartoon which showed me like a buffalo, I think it was a good cartoon. So if you look at that carton then you know what I’m going to do. Our very very competent teachers are teaching them and they are engaged where the teacher is basically facilitating the children. What the hell do you want and who the hell do you think you are to be saying that nothing is going on?”
November 6, 2020 when reprimanding Uasin Gishu county education director Gitonga Mbaka over failure to inspect schools in his jurisdiction:
"Nikisema wewe ni mjinga ni uongo? (If I say that you are fool, would I be lying?) You are talking about the report, I'm talking about what is here."
June 4, 2022 when dismissing talk by a section of politicians that they will scrap the Competency Based Curriculum:
“CBC is here to stay, let’s not talk cheap politics. If in future you want to change it, you must give us a credible alternative and how it is going to be implemented. Let us not talk cheap and toxic politics.”
March 4, 2022 when warning exam cheats:
“We are not going to allow anybody to mess with these exams just like we have done in the past. And for those crooks who think we don’t know what you are doing, we are watching you.”
June 16, 2022 when telling off leaders with fake degrees:
“If you were to ask me who were my classmates, I will give you a battery of them from all over the world and most of them have retired. I would want to urge the people, the politicians, in particular, to stop destroying our universities.”
June 22, 2022 when telling off politicians over plans to reintroduce 8-4-4 system:
"You can bark out there but we are not going to take a Grade 6 child back to class one to start preparing for KCPE. The country is not going to allow you, who do you think you are?"
September 6, 2022 when dismissing claims that his continued supervision of classroom construction was a gimmick to get retained in the Kenya Kwanza administration:
"I'm not looking for a job, you can take that to the bank. So nobody should mistake me that I'm completing this work in order to be seen that I want another job."
On August 17, 2022, perhaps on the realization that his remarks may have been a bit extreme on some occasions, Magoha issued an apology.
“There is no one who is perfect and I believe that for me to serve here it was by the grace of God," he said.
"I respect everybody. The way you see me, the courage that I have comes from God and Starehe Boys Centre. We are eagles and we fly high and we are not afraid,” he added.
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