Jamawi Ja'afar
Malaysian politician (born 1973)
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Jamawi bin Ja'afar (born 8 January 1973) is a Malaysian politician and businessman who served as the State Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Industries of Sabah since December 2025 in the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) state administration under Chief Minister Hajiji Noor, as well as Member of Sabah State Legislative Assembly for Melalap since November 2025. He is a member of the People's Justice Party (PKR), a component party of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition.[1][2]
Jamawi Ja'afar | |
|---|---|
| جماوي جعفر | |
| State Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food industries of Sabah | |
| Assumed office 1 December 2025 | |
| Governor | Musa Aman |
| Chief Minister | Hajiji Noor |
| Assistants | |
| Preceded by | Jeffrey Kitingan |
| Constituency | Melalap |
| Member of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly for Melalap | |
| Assumed office 29 November 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Peter Anthony (WARISAN) |
| Majority | 525 (2025) |
| Member of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly for Kemabong | |
| In office 9 May 2018 – 26 September 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Rubin Balang (BN–UMNO) |
| Succeeded by | Rubin Balang (Independent) |
| Majority | 862 (2018) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Jamawi bin Ja'afar 8 January 1973 |
| Party | United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) (until 2018, 2020–2023) Sabah Heritage Party (WARISAN) (2018–2020) Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (GAGASAN) (2023–2025)  People's Justice Party (PKR) (since 2025) |
Other political affiliations | Barisan Nasional (BN) (until 2018, 2020–2023) Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) (2023–2025)  Pakatan Harapan (PH) (since 2025) |
| Spouse | Zainatunnisa Ibrahim |
| Alma mater | University of Putra Malaysia |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Profession | Agropreneur |
Politics
He was the UMNO Youth Chief of Tenom Division and National Youth Information Chief of UMNO, under the leadership of National Youth Chief Khairy Jamaluddin.[3] He quit UMNO in 2018 and later joined WARISAN with the reason to support Sabah local party. In 2020, he quit WARISAN because of PSS controversies and rejoined UMNO as alternative choices. After BN-UMNO lost many seats in the Malaysia General Election in November 2022, he decided to joining GRS through GRS direct membership constitution. In February 2023, he confirmed his support and joined Sabah local party GAGASAN, one of the major component party of GRS. In March 2023, he officially become the Division Chairman of Melalap branch. On 17 October 2023, he confirmed that Tenom parliamentary branch of GAGASAN has successfully reached 5,000 memberships.
2025 Sabah state election
Jamawi sparked controversy after he was chosen as a candidate for the Melalap state constituency, where he contested under the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) ticket. His detractors, particularly from PKR members, such as the former Deputy President of PKR Rafizi Ramli, have labeled him a "frog".[4][5]
On 1 December 2025, he was sworn in as a Minister in Chief Minister Hajiji's cabinet, taking the Agriculture and Food Industries portfolio, succeeding Jeffrey Kitingan.
On 25 January 2026, he was appointed as an ex-officio member of the Central Leadership Council of PKR alongside fellow Sabahan PKR members Ruji Ubi and Yamani Hafez Musa.[6]
Election results
| Year | Constituency | Candidate | Votes | Pct. | Opponent(s) | Votes | Pct. | Ballots cast | Majority | Turnout | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | P181 Tenom | Jamawi Ja'afar (Sabah UMNO) | 8,625 | 30.11% | Riduan Rubin (IND) | 10,027 | 35.00% | 28,649 | 1,108 | 68.14% | ||
| Noorita Sual (DAP) | 8,919 | 31.13% | ||||||||||
| Ukim Buandi (WARISAN) | 992 | 3.46% | ||||||||||
| Peggy Chaw Zhi Ting (IND) | 86 | 0.30% | ||||||||||
| Year | Constituency | Candidate | Votes | Pct. | Opponent(s) | Votes | Pct. | Ballots cast | Majority | Turnout | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | N43 Kemabong | Jamawi Ja'afar (Sabah UMNO) | 6,093 | 50.65% | Haris Bolos (WARISAN) | 5,198 | 43.21% | 12,030 | 862 | 84.93% | ||
| Tay Jin Kiong @ Alfred (PCS) | 152 | 1.26% | ||||||||||
| Yahia @ Yahya Raimah (PHRS) | 124 | 1.03% | ||||||||||
| 2020 | N42 Melalap | Jamawi Ja'afar (Sabah UMNO) | 3,526 | 33.25% | Peter Anthony (WARISAN) | 5,245 | 49.46% | 10,605 | 1,719 | 75.79% | ||
| Radin Malleh (PBS) | 1,359 | 12.81% | ||||||||||
| Apiang Sausun (PCS) | 268 | 2.53% | ||||||||||
| Sazali Justi (USNO Baru) | 32 | 0.30% | ||||||||||
| Masdin Tumas (LDP) | 23 | 0.22% | ||||||||||
| 2025 | Jamawi Ja'afar (PKR) | 5,064 | 33.80% | Priscella Peter (KDM) | 4,539 | 30.29% | 15,118 | 525 | 71.08% | |||
| Gabriel George Tulas (IND) | 2,879 | 19.22% | ||||||||||
| Junik Bajit (UPKO) | 1,702 | 11.36% | ||||||||||
| Cheld Bryend Lind (WARISAN) | 448 | 2.99% | ||||||||||
| Alviana Linus (STAR) | 271 | 1.81% | ||||||||||
| Fatimah Ibrahim (IND) | 59 | 0.39% | ||||||||||
| Kevin Chong (IMPIAN) | 21 | 0.14% | ||||||||||
Honours
Sabah
Commander of the Order of Kinabalu (PGDK) – Datuk (2023)[9]
Companion of the Order of Kinabalu (ASDK) (2015)- Member of the Order of Kinabalu (ADK) (2009)[10]
