Federal government reshuffles KP bureaucracy as 25 notifications issued

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has carried out a major bureaucratic reshuffle in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, issuing 25 notifications covering senior civil servants and police officers on October 11, 2026.

The administrative changes include the appointment of a new chief secretary, the transfer of Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS) officers to the Establishment Division, and the movement of Police Service of Pakistan (PSP) officers between KP and other jurisdictions.

According to the notifications, Dr Muhammad Fakhare Alam Irfan, a BS-22 officer of the Pakistan Administrative Service who was serving as secretary of the Power Division, has been appointed chief secretary of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with immediate effect until further orders. He replaces Shahab Ali Shah, a BS-21 PAS officer.

In another key move, Muhammad Yahya Akhunzada, a BS-20 PAS officer serving as additional secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office in Islamabad, has been transferred and placed at the disposal of the KP government under Section 10 of the Civil Servants Act, 1973.

Akhunzada has previously served in several administrative positions, including as additional political agent in South and North Waziristan. His past assignments also include positions in the provincial health, information and education departments, as well as serving as commissioner of Dera Ismail Khan.

Fourteen PAS officers transferred to Establishment Division

The notifications also direct 14 PAS officers serving in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to report to the Establishment Division.

The officers include two BS-21 officials, Ikramullah and Ambar Ali Khan, and two BS-20 officers, Shahidullah and Sohail Khan.

The BS-19 officers affected by the reshuffle are Shah Fahad, Captain (retd) Mian Adil Iqbal, Muhammad Usman, Captain (retd) Sarmad Saleem Akram and Shafiullah Khan.

The BS-18 officers transferred to the Establishment Division are Captain (retd) Muhammad Zubair Khan, Waqar Ali, Captain (retd) Sanaullah Khan, Muhammad Ehtisham-ul-Haq and Muhammad Faheem.

All 14 officers have been directed to report to the Establishment Division with immediate effect.

Eight police officers transferred under separate orders

The federal government has also ordered changes involving eight officers of the Police Service of Pakistan.

Four officers serving in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been transferred to the Establishment Division. They are Humayun Masood Sandhu, Irfan Tariq and Fasihuddin, all BS-20 officers, and Imran Khan, a BS-18 officer.

Meanwhile, four BS-18 officers have been posted to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from other jurisdictions.

Lieutenant Commander (retd) Kashif Aftab Ahmad Abbasi has been transferred from Sindh, Paree Gul Tareen from Islamabad Capital Territory Police, Ihtizaz Arif from Balochistan and Saad Afridi from Punjab.

The appointments and transfers are intended to reorganise the administrative and policing structure in the province, although the individual notifications do not specify the operational reasons for each change.

In a separate notification dated October 5, Captain (retd) Muhammad Khurram Agha, a BS-22 PAS officer previously serving as an officer on special duty at the Establishment Division, was posted as secretary of the Maritime Affairs Division.

The latest notifications cover appointments, transfers and reporting instructions across the federal and provincial administrative structures. They mark a significant change in the deployment of senior bureaucrats and police officers associated with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The reported link between the reshuffle and the imposition of emergency or governor’s rule should be assessed against the official constitutional proclamations and notifications. The administrative orders themselves establish the transfers and postings but do not, on their own, confirm the full legal scope of federal control over the province.