Shortage of official accommodations in Ministers’ Enclave: Cabinet expansion gives birth to concerns

ISLAMABAD: The recent expansion of the federal cabinet has raised concerns over the shortage of official accommodations at the Ministers’ Enclave, where several influential figures – including the all-powerful chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) – are said to have illegally occupied sprawling bungalows overlooking the scenic Margalla Hills.

According to official documents available with Business Recorder, unauthorized occupants, including ineligible parliamentarians, politicians, and senior bureaucrats, have unlawfully occupied residences designated for cabinet members, creating challenges for the newly appointed cabinet members.

Sources familiar with the matter revealed that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has tasked a committee led by Defense Minister Khawaja Asif to oversee the allotment of official residences in the Minister’s Enclave for the newly appointed federal ministers, ministers of state, and advisors.

The committee, chaired by Asif and comprising Minister for Housing and Works Riaz Hussain Pirzada, Secretary Housing and Works Shehzad Bangash, Secretary Cabinet Division Kamran Ali Afzal, and Additional Secretary to the Prime Minister’s Secretariat Mohib Ali Phulpoto, has been directed to evict unauthorized occupants from government residences to make room for the newly appointed cabinet members.

In its first meeting, the committee approved the allotment of government residences to Federal Minister for Culture and National Heritage Aurangzeb Khichi, Federal Minister for Water Resources MoeenWattoo, Federal Minister for Science and Technology Khalid Hussain Magsi, Federal Minister for National Health Services Mustafa Kamal, Federal Minister for Public Affairs Unit Rana Mubashir Iqbal, and Prime Minister’s Advisor on Interior Pervez Khattak.

The formal allotment process will be carried out by the State Office in the next few days.

The committee has also decided that federal ministers from Islamabad and Rawalpindi will not be assigned government residences in the Minister Enclave, said sources, adding more official accommodations for the remaining newly appointed cabinet members will be approved at the committee’s next meeting.

According to official documents available with BR, the unauthorized occupants currently residing in the Minister’s Enclave without any official entitlement include former Cabinet Advisor Sadiq Iftikhar, Awami National Party (ANP) president and Senator Aimal Wali Khan, Chairman of the Anti-Money Laundering Authority Mushtaq Sukhera, and Allama Tahir Ashrafi, who is reportedly occupying a residence allotted to ex-federal minister Shahid Ashraf Tarar.

Khurram Hameed Rokhri, an ex-PTI dissident, is occupying the house of ex-special assistant to the prime minister (SAPM) Jawad Sohrab Malik illegally.

Deputy Chairman Senate Syedaal Khan has also been named among the non-entitled and unauthorised occupants, said the official documents.

Additionally, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi, former interim prime minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar, Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan, NAB Prosecutor General Asid Ahtisham Qadir, and NAB Chairman Lt Gen Nazir Hussain (retd) all have official residences in the Minister’s Enclave, without being entitled to official accommodation in the Minister’s Enclave.

According to official statistics compiled by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) led by its chairman and Chief Commissioner Islamabad Muhammad Ali Randhawa, there are a total of 37 big houses for ministers in the Enclave, of which over 26 are occupied by the incumbent ministers while 11 are vacant.

Additionally, six apartments were also built inside the premises to accommodate ministers, but unfortunately, which are occupied by non-entitled parliamentarians or individuals.

With the new inductions, the size of the federal cabinet has swelled to 51, including 30 federal ministers, nine state ministers, four advisers, and eight SAPMs.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025