NAIROBI, Kenya Jun 28 – Kenya Red Cross Secretary General Abbas Gullet is set to retire this year, when his contract comes to an end.
In a statement, the agency announced that Gullet, who has been with the humanitarian organization for 18 years will be succeeded by Dr. Asha Mohammed who has been serving as his deputy.
Mohammed has been in charge of Programs and the Global Fund.
She previously served as the Head of the International Federation of Red Cross and the Red Crescent Regional Delegation for Southern Africa Region in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Gullet is credited for being at the front-line in providing efficient disaster response in the country, notably the 2007/2008 post-election violence, the 2013 Westgate Mall terror attack where he was among the first respondents to the scene, the drought situation that ravaged the northern part of the country among other disasters.
The board also acknowledged that Gullet had overseen a smooth financial transition since he ascended to office by raising revenue, which was highly used in providing aid in the country.
“In 2001 the organization had a debt of Sh35 million but when he took over the debt now stands at Sh10 million,” the agency Governor Dr. Mohamud Said noted during the company’s staff meeting.
Said pointed out that Gullet during his tenure had branded himself as a leader who had brought efficiency and speed to disaster response and programme implementation in the country.
“Abbas has always believed in leading from the front just when we were managing a disaster but even in where the organization needed to go and we are grateful for his service. He leaves the organization stronger than he found it and hands it over to an extremely competent successor,” he said.
