Nairobi — Professor George Magoha’s wife, Barbara Odudu Magoha, revealed the humorous side of the famous academician and former cabinet secretary for education who passed away last Tuesday.
Odudu who spoke on Tuesday at her Lavington home said that outside the ever serious person he seemed to be, he was a loving and kind hearted husband who adored his family.
“There was so much argument but when he knew the other person is down, he will give up just for them. He was so forgiving, people never knew that. If you say you have a headache (in midst of an argument), he would ask if you got your medicines and the case would be closed,” she said.
She described Magoha as a forgiving spouse and was a very caring throughout their marriage.
Odudu explained how Magoha would rise through marital conflicts being keen on creating calm and ensuring peace for the other party is considered saying, “He would say, ‘these are my reservations, if you can work on this, we can be fine,if not, we leave it that.”
The widow recalled an incident when she had delivered her son Michael Magoha but was ailing from blood pressure thus she could not breastfeed like ordinary mothers and the late Magoha would make her squeezed juice before leaving for work.
“When I was pregnant with my son, I was in between life and death with my blood pressure… he told me that this is what pregnancy is all about. When I had my son, because of the blood pressure I didn’t have milk and By 6:30 am I always had six litres of fruit juice squeezed by him every morning before going to work,” she said.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
As she expresses her sorrow over the loss of her devoted husband who passed away from cardiac arrest, she notes that they had a friendly relationship in which they supported one another throughout their life endeavors.
“He was very supportive, I supported him and he appreciated it. That appreciation was so much and made me move a step further. If I had to sandal on one foot the whole night for him to achieve what he wanted the following morning. I would do it. Cause when it was over, he would come back and say, without you, I would never have done it,” stated Odudu.
She added saying, “I miss him is an understatement because we used to work like two major generals, we used to say he was commanding the first battalion and am in the second battalion.”
Prof George Magoha died on Tuesday last week following a cardiac arrest at the Nairobi Hospital and is set to be laid to rest at his home in Gem Sub-county in Siaya on Saturday 11 February 2023.
