Let the people choose their native and village chiefs, Jeffrey Kitingan tells Shafie

KOTA KINABALU - Opposition leader Jeffrey Kitingan has taken the Warisan-led state government to task for the late appointments of native and village chiefs in Sabah.

The Keningau MP said the government should resolve this issue as soon as possible, adding that he had received a host of complaints over the delay.

He said the delay in picking these chiefs had affected the welfare of the people, especially when it came to customs-related issues such as marriages and document verification for students and children.

“What seems to be the problem in the appointments? It is a simple procedure — you either just appoint them or you let the people elect.

“If you simply appoint, you are just repeating what the previous government was doing. So what is the point of Warisan’s slogan ‘Sabah Ubah’ (‘Change Sabah’)?” he said in a statement.

He said Chief Minister Shafie Apdal should instead direct the district officers and relevant departments to conduct elections to pick the native and village chiefs.

Jeffrey said numerous government functions did not seem to be fully operational even though Warisan had taken over the reins of government more than seven months ago.

He said the Warisan-Pakatan Harapan state government had failed to deliver on its election promises or offer any new development initiatives.