KOTA KINABALU: More than 200 indigenous Sabahans turned up at a Mobile Court drive in Ranau over the weekend to resolve long-standing personal documentation issues, including late birth and marriage registrations.
The Tibabar Mobile Court programme allowed rural residents to obtain legal clarification, draft statutory declarations, take oaths before a magistrate, and submit documents directly to the National Registration Department (NRD) without travelling to distant government offices.
Sabah STAR Information Chief Anuar Ghani noted that unresolved documentation prevents many native Sabahans from accessing essential services, including education, healthcare, government aid, and banking.
"When government agencies take the initiative to go to the people, rural folks no longer have to travel from office to office simply to obtain basic information," Anuar said in a statement on Tuesday (Aug 11), calling for sustained, community-based solutions to prevent rural communities from remaining marginalised.
The initiative was organised jointly by the Judiciary, the Sabah Law Society, the NRD, the police, and several state departments. Senior officials, including the Chief Justice of Malaysia, Tun Wan Farid Wan Salleh, and the Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak, Datuk Wan Azizah Nawawi, were present to observe the outreach.
A day prior, Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Joachim Gunsalam officiated a briefing in Kampung Tibabar detailing amendments under the Sabah Native Courts Enactment 2026, focusing on the restructuring of the state's Native Court system.
Brainchild of former Chief Justice Tun Richard Malanjum, the Mobile Court programme has assisted over 100,000 Sabahans in securing legal citizenship and official identification to date.
