Ruto Reappoints Multi-Billionaire As Egerton Chancellor
On Friday, President William Ruto reappointed multibillionaire businessman Narendra Raval as Chancellor of Egerton University.
In a gazette notice, the Head of State announced the tycoon’s reappointment to one of the country’s leading and oldest tertiary institutions.
According to President Ruto, Raval will be the institution’s Chancellor for five years, beginning September 16 of this year.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by section 38 (1) (a) of the Universities Act, 2012, I, William Samoei Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces, re-appoint Narendra Raval as Chancellor of the Egerton University,” Ruto announced.
Former President Uhuru Kenyatta appointed Narendra Raval as the Chancellor of Egerton University in March 2019. He took over for Shem Oyoo Wandiga, who was appointed in 2013.
Ruto reappoints billionaire Narendra Raval as Egerton University chancellor pic.twitter.com/4pr91cS9kV
— Kenyans.co.ke (@Kenyans) September 21, 2024
Raval is one of Kenya’s most successful billionaire entrepreneurs and philanthropists. He is the founder of Devki Group, which has an annual revenue of more than Ksh80 billion annually.
The Indian national was born in 1962 and spent his childhood working as a priest at a Brahmin Hindu temple in India. As a teenager, he went to work as an assistant priest at a temple in Kisumu.
In 1986, he left the priesthood to marry a Kenyan woman, with whom he began trading building materials in Nairobi’s Gikomba market.
Raval’s business expanded into an industrial empire known as the Devki Group of Companies.
The group went on to establish subsidiaries in Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The billionaire’s empire in Kenya focuses on the production of steel, aluminum, and cement, with little interest in aviation.
Aside from owning a multibillion-dollar company, the businessman is also a philanthropist whose influence is widely felt in East Africa.
Meanwhile, Raval, who was raised as a priest, is also an astrologist. He owns a company that produces oxygen, which he donates to hospitals for free.
Ruto Reappoints Multi-Billionaire As Egerton Chancellor
