PESHAWAR: Shahab Ali Shah has been appointed as the chief secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) replacing Nadeem Aslam Chaudhry, said an official notification issued here on Thursday.

Born in May, 1974 in Bannu district, Mr Shah, a BPS-21 officer of the Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS), studied political science from University of Peshawar.

His first posting was in Punjab’s Sargodha district in 1999. In 2001, Mr Shah was transferred from Sargodha to Jhang where he served till 2003.

His first posting in KP was as assistant political officer in South Waziristan Agency [now district] and served till 2004 followed by his posting as assistant political agent, Lower Mohmand, till December, 2004, and assistant commissioner Afghan Refugees till October, 2005.

The same year, Mr Shah was posted as district coordination officer Swat where he served till 2006.

Between 2008 to 2010, Mr Shah served as political agent South Waziristan followed by his posting at the finance department between 2010 and 2011. In 2011, Mr Shah served as political agent, Kurram Agency.

Mr Shah also served as chief economist KP till 2014 but was later transferred and posted as political agent, Khyber Agency, where he served till 2016.

The newly-appointed chief secretary served as secretary planning and development between 2016 and 2017.

In 2017, Mr Shah served as principal secretary to KP chief minister followed by his posting as commissioner Peshawar. In 2019, he served at the planning and development department followed by another term as principal secretary to the CM in 2019.

He also served as additional chief secretary planning and development till 2023 in KP.

Published in Dawn, February 14th, 2025