Secretaries-general of federal ministries and heads of government agencies have been instructed to investigate alleged "sabotage" attempts by civil servants against new government appointees.

Chief secretary to the government Ali Hamsa said action would be taken against the saboteurs to honour the mandate given to the government of the day.

"Report any kind of sabotage to the respective secretaries-general and heads of service. From there, I will personally address the matter.

"Any deliberate attempt to sabotage and undermine the government and its administration will not be tolerated," he said while promising that rule of law and good governance would be upheld.

Ali had said this in response to a report by The Sun which, citing sources, claimed that pro-BN civil servants were interfering with the appointments by new ministers.

The report cited several anonymous complainants in three ministries who were the victims of attempts to stop them from taking up their jobs.

The report also speculated that Numan Afifi Saadan, who had to resign as an officer for Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman, was among the victims.