24 Years of Exploitation Doesn’t Make UMNO a Sabah Local Party !

By Daniel John Jambun, 19-7-2025

WE take note of Ahmad Maslan’s laughable claim that UMNO should now be considered a “local party” in Sabah simply because it governed the state for 24 years. This is not just historically dishonest — it is a deliberate insult to the intelligence of Sabahans.

Let us be clear: colonialism doesn’t become local just because it overstays its welcome.

1. UMNO’s Legacy in Sabah Is One of Exploitation, Not Empowerment

For 24 years, UMNO used Sabah as a political fixed deposit — not as a partner, and certainly not as a home. Sabah’s rich resources were siphoned off, while the people were kept poor.

We remain the poorest state in Malaysia;

Our roads are filled with potholes;

Our schools and hospitals are falling apart;

And our water pipes are older than the UMNO division in Kimanis.

Worse still, UMNO deliberately manipulated Sabah’s demographic balance through dubious citizenship schemes — an act of political engineering that weakened native representation and destabilised Sabah’s social fabric for generations.

If this is UMNO’s definition of “local governance,” then Sabah wants nothing to do with it.

2. You Can’t Buy a Sabah Identity With a Long Stay

UMNO is not local just because it set up branches here. A parasite doesn’t become part of the host just because it’s been feeding for years.

Being “local” means standing up for:

Sabah’s rights under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63),

The protection of native leadership and identity, and

The long-term well-being of Sabahans.

UMNO has done the opposite: it bowed to Malaya, suppressed local voices, and plundered what it could.

3. Sabahans Rejected UMNO in 2018 — And That Verdict Still Stands

If UMNO was so beloved and “local,” why did the people throw it out in 2018? Why did its own leaders abandon it, causing the party to collapse from within?

UMNO’s legacy in Sabah is stained with:

Political frogs,

Vote buying,

Corrupt timber concessions, and

Sabotage of Sabah’s constitutional autonomy.

You cannot whitewash that history with a press statement — and certainly not with a carefully staged photo op in The Star.

4. This Is Not Localisation — It’s Political Desperation

UMNO is attempting a last-ditch makeover because it is no longer relevant in Peninsular Malaysia and is widely despised in Sabah. Calling itself “local” is not a transformation — it’s a marketing gimmick by a party drowning in scandal and rejected by younger, more informed voters.

UMNO is no more a local party than the British North Borneo Company was a Sabah NGO.

24 years of ruling Sabah does not make you local — it makes you responsible for 24 years of underdevelopment, demographic manipulation, broken promises, and stolen futures.

Sabah belongs to Sabahans.

Not to imported political machinery wrapped in cheap local slogans.

Daniel John Jambun is President of

Change Advocate Movement Sabah (CAMOS).#~Borneo Herald™