Sabah to Make Changes in Civil Service; GLCs, and Cabinet

The government will redeploy personnel in the civil service; statutory bodies and Government-Linked Companies (GLCs) who are ineffective to make way for others who have demonstrated promising leadership qualities and who have demonstrated better work ethics. Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Hajiji Haji Noor said that the civil service is a strategic unit to operate the government policies and programmes.

“All staff in the civil service, statutory bodies and GLCs are strategic partners to the government. They must always be professional, honest, neutral, and people oriented,” Hajiji said during a gathering of civil personnel on 30 January 2026 at the Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC), Kota Kinabalu.

The State Government is embarking on a journey to reshape the civil service and to restructure several ministries, departments and government agencies, including GLCs, to ensure that government service delivery and the performance of each government entity are truly efficient, responsive and effective. Hajiji said that all government units including the civil service must be orderly, structured, and disciplined. The State Public Service Department is obtaining an integrated certification for the Quality Management System (MS ISO 9001:2015) and the Anti-Bribery Management System (ABMS 37001:2025).

“Our effort is to strengthen organisational governance and enhance the efficiency of public service delivery, Hajiji said. “The people have given us the mandate at the 17th State Legislative Assembly General Election to continue governing for a second term, the CM said. “We have successfully placed Sabah on the right track; we have strengthened the economy and improved people's well-being. We need to tighten monitoring to ensure the effectiveness of administration.”

With a strong mandate and a stable DUN, the State Government plans to introduce changes in line with current needs including limiting the Chief Minister’s term of office to a maximum of two terms or 10 years; increase the number of state cabinet portfolios to meet increasingly complex administrative demands; and rebranding the position of Assistant Minister to Deputy Minister to make it more relevant and aligned with current administrative practices, Hajiji added. “Our efforts and journey are in tandem with the aspirations of the people under the Hala Tuju Sabah Maju Jaya 2.0 Development Plan,” the CM said.