RUTO APPOINTS FORMER RED CROSS SECRETARY GENERAL ABBAS GULLET AS NEW CHAIRPERSON OF THE KNH BOARD OF DIRECTORS

President William Ruto has made new appointments to key parastatal boards in the health sector, including the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) Board of Directors. In a gazette notice dated July 25, 2025, the President appointed former Kenya Red Cross Society Secretary General Dr. Abbas Gullet as the new Chairperson of the KNH Board of Directors.
The appointment of Dr Samier Muravvej has been revoked. Dr. Gullet is also the founder and Chairman of the Boma Group of hotels in Nairobi, Eldoret and Nyeri, which are fully owned by the Kenya Red Cross Society. Under his leadership, the Kenya Red Cross Society also founded the Emergency Medical Services (E-Plus), which has the largest fleet of Critical Care Ambulances in Kenya
The former Kenya Red Cross Society boss also serves as the Vice President for Africa of the International Federation of the Red Cross Red Crescent. A distinguished humanitarian, Gullet volunteered in the Kenya Red Cross for 11 years before becoming staff and rising through the ranks to lead the organization.
His appointment comes just days after Ministry of Health Cabinet Secretary for Health Aden Duale called for urgent reforms across Kenya’s national referral hospitals following a security breach at Kenyatta National Hospital and other emerging management failures.
Gullet also joins the KNH board days after the hospital issued a new directive that is expected to impact patients who are not covered under the Social Health Authority (SHA) scheme.
KNH Acting Chief Executive Officer William Sigilai in a memo dated Thursday, July 24, announced that patients must have a valid SHA membership for admission or pay a deposit for medical cases or the equivalent cost of the SHA surgical package. According to Sigilai, the changes would take effect immediately.
“Effective today, all patients presenting for admission without a valid SHA membership must be required to pay the admission deposit for medical cases or the equivalent SHA surgical package cost, protocol receiving service, unless it is an emergency case,” he said.