Education cabinet secretary nominee Prof. George Magoha has a net worth of Ksh250 million, documents shared with the National Assembly’s Committee on Appointments showed.
The committee’s member, Suba South MP John Mbadi, disclosed Thursday that the documents showed Prof. Magoha’s money comes from, among others, ventures in real estate, transport and forestry business.
In his wealth declaration documents, Prof. Magoha submitted that he earned Ksh1.5 million from rental houses in 2017; Ksh2.9 million in 2018; and so far in 2019, the former University of Nairobi (UoN) Vice Chancellor has received an average of Ksh700, 000 per month from rental houses.
The academic’s practice as a consultant urologist also contributed to that net worth.
Mr Mbadi further said the CS nominee owns several buildings in Nairobi and Yala in Siaya County, several motor vehicles, tracts of forests in Yala, among other properties.
Prof. Magoha was vetted by the MPs Thursday at the County Hall’s Mini-Chamber after President Uhuru Kenyatta forwarded his name to Parliament on March 6.
The ex-UoN chief said a desire to have large amounts of money has never been his key motivation in life, citing a 1987 incident, where he left his job as a doctor in Lagos, Nigeria to return to Kenya and be a lecturer at University of Nairobi (UoN).
The former Kenya National Examinations Council Chairman said he was earning Ksh100, 000 monthly in Nigeria, and had to take an extreme pay-cut, when he joined UoN. At the institution of higher learning, his monthly pay was Ksh6, 000, he said.
Magoha, a professor of transplant surgery, served as UoN Vice Chancellor between 2005 and 2015.
If appointed, Prof. Magoha will have his work cut out for him as he will be tasked with ensuring the new Competency Based Curriculum succeeds.