Jeffrey Gapari Kitingan was born on 22 October 1948, known as DDJK or DSPDJK since 2021 and is a Malaysian politician who has served as the Deputy Chief Minister I of Sabah since January 2023 and State Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries of Sabah for the second term since September 2020.
23 Facts About Jeffrey Kitingan
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Jeffrey Kitingan served as the Deputy Chief II Minister of Sabah from October 2020 to his promotion in January 2023 and the first term in the position in May 2018.
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Jeffrey Kitingan has served as Member of Parliament for Keningau since May 2018, Member of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly for Tambunan since May 2018 and Bingkor from 1994 to 2004 and again from May 2013 to May 2018.
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Jeffrey Kitingan has served and been founding President of the Homeland Solidarity Party, a component party of the ruling Gabungan Rakyat Sabah and a former component party of the Perikatan Nasional coalition, since July 2016.
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Jeffrey Kitingan was born in the town of Kota Marudu but hailed from the interior district of Tambunan.
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Jeffrey Kitingan graduated with a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University's John F Kennedy School of Government.
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Jeffrey Kitingan has a PhD awarded in 1984 from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy of Tufts University.
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Jeffrey Kitingan is known to be a controversial politician, having been detained without trial under the Internal Security Act by the Barisan Nasional-controlled federal government under the leadership of then-Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad on suspicions of plotting to secede Sabah from the federation of Malaysia, although his defenders argue that this was a politically motivated move.
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Jeffrey Kitingan is known to have switched political parties a number of times.
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Jeffrey Kitingan tried to climb to the top post of the AKAR party but failed and rejoined PBS in 1996.
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Jeffrey Kitingan then quit the PBRS party in 2001 and tried to join United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation.
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Jeffrey Kitingan then applied another membership through UMNO Keningau branch in Sabah using his legal name "Gapari bin Kitingan @ Geoffrey Kitingan" and was mistakenly accepted by UMNO.
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Jeffrey Kitingan remained independent of any party until he was accepted into Parti Keadilan Rakyat in 2006 where he became the vice-president of the party representing the East Malaysian quota.
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Jeffrey Kitingan resigned his vice-president post in 2009 but remained as a party member.
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In December 2010, Jeffrey Kitingan founded a NGO named United Borneo Alliance, which aimed to strive the rights of Sabah and Sarawak in accordance to 20-point agreement and Malaysia Agreement.
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Jeffrey Kitingan finally quit the PKR party in January 2011.
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In 2012, Jeffrey Kitingan launched the Sabah chapter of Sarawak-based State Reform Party.
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Jeffrey Kitingan has been referred as political "frog" for his penchant of party hopping throughout his political career.
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Jeffrey Kitingan responded by commenting that party hopping has been the common practice in Sabah politics.
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Jeffrey Kitingan defended himself that he switches parties in order to find the one that is suitable to fight for the rights of the Sabah people.
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Jeffrey Kitingan then decide to team up with the BN to form coalition state government with him appointed as a Deputy Chief Minister while Musa Aman from BN continue to become the Chief Minister for another 5 years under the new coalition government.
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In late 2021, Mongabay reported that Jeffrey Kitingan was involved in a carbon credit deal that was signed in October 2021 that declared 2 million hectares as protected areas, without the consultation of indigenous peoples residing there.
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In January 2021, Jeffrey Kitingan tested positive for COVID-19 and underwent treatment at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.