Education Cabinet Secretary, George Magoha, lifted the lid on a private State House meeting that preceded President Uhuru Kenyatta's Ksh100 million gift to famed marathoner, Eliud Kipchoge.
Speaking to the press at Kapsisiywa Secondary School on Wednesday, August 3, Magoha noted that the meeting took place at State House in Mombasa immediately after the marathoner shattered the sub 2-hour INEOS challenge.
The CS explained that Uhuru initiated the talks after summoning Kipchoge to State House, offering him a gift of his choice valued at Ksh100 million.
Kipchoge, who is philanthropically driven, opted to have a library constructed at his local school in Nandi county.
"When he broke that record which no human has done before, the President summoned him to the State House in Mombasa and asked him what personal gift he wanted which would cost Ksh100 million.
"Kipchoge, in his humble nature, told the President that he wanted a library at his local school which is this Kapsisiywa Secondary School," revealed the CS.
Later, Magoha, who was at State House at the time, was summoned by the Head of State and directed to oversee the project.
"I was almost eating because we were somewhere in the same State House and one of the bodyguards told me that the President wanted to see me.
"I ran up and found him sitting together with Kipchoge alone. I was given the instruction at that time to come and build a library at Kapsisiywa. It was about two years ago," added Magoha.
The construction officially kicked off in September 2020 and was completed in July 2022. The CS made 20 trips as part of his inspection exercise to the school.
He noted that the library, which has been christened 'Eliud Kipchoge Library,' and displaying his 'No Human is Limited' tagline, was constructed at a cost of Ksh85 million.
The balance is set to cater for 12 classrooms and a perimeter wall around the institution.
The library spots shiny finishing with silver pillars on the outside. Inside, a neatly arranged bookshelf has already been fitted alongside partitioned tables to host four students per slot - accompanied by leather seats.
At the time of the launch, President Uhuru noted that he was building the library in honour of the athlete because of his love for reading.
