[Juba, South Sudan, TCT] President Salva Kiir has issued a Republican Order for the Formation of the National Dialogue Steering Committee. He issued the order in his capacity as the patron of the committee.
According to the order, the committee will be composed of four advisers to the patron, 26 individual members, and 15 members from independent institutions who will form the secretariat, and five expert advisers to the committee.
The president said the mandate of the committee is to provide the agenda for National dialogue as provided for within the framework of the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (ARCISS), and to steer forward the process of national dialogue.
The committee is also tasked with working with the experts and resource persons to help in the facilitation of the process and to issue a timetable for national dialogue process.
This order is in pursuant of an announcement that the president made last week in parliament, on the need for national dialogue, which should lead to reconciliation.
Making the announcement last week, the president asked for forgiveness from anyone he might have wronged in the past. He said that the national dialogue will be inclusive and will be led by eminent personalities who will be acceptable and trusted by everyone.
The committee that was announced by the president will be co-chaired by Retired Catholic Bishop Paride Taban and former Sudanese Second Vice President Prof. Moses Machar Kachuol.
Other persons named in the committee include Simon Kun Puoch as the Secretary, while other members include Bishop Emeritus of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Sudan (ECSS&S) Nathaniel Garang Anyieth.
The Secretariat will be made up of members from the Sudd Institute, Ebony Center, and Center for Peace and Development Studies at Juba University. Other are South Sudan Council of Churches, South Sudan Islamic Council, South Sudan National Youth Union and the Office of the President.
President Kiir appointed Abel Alier-wal Kwai, Joseph Lagu, Bona Malual Madut and Francis Mading Deng as his advisors. Alier and Lagu were presidents in the 1970s for Juba-based semi-autonomous the Higher Executive Council for Southern Sudan.
Meanwhile, the Associated Press (AP) has reported that former vice president Dr. Riek Machar has rubbished the formation of the committee, saying that there must be peace talks first before dialogue can take place. He was speaking from South Africa, where he is currently living.