Officials of the National Dialogue initiative at a venue in Juba in 2020 | Credit | Eye Radio

The national dialogue steering committee has distanced itself from a damning report that advised President Salva Kiir and opposition leader, Dr. Riek Machar to step aside from politics.

Last week, a  leaked report indicated that the National Dialogue Steering Committee had recommended for President Salva Kiir and Dr. Riek Machar to step down “if South Sudan is to have a successful transition.”

“The national dialogue is still standing till we meet the president and we present our document to the president, so please any document which says its final report talking about the president to step aside, the national dialogue is distancing itself from this,” the deputy rapporteur, William Othwuon said in a press conference on Monday.

“This is not our document. It had been rejected and was put aside,” he added.

Mr. Othwuon said the report was discussed last Tuesday but due to its content, members of the steering committee disagreed over it, and therefore it was not submitted to the Office of the President.

“Up to today, we didn’t present anything to the president. We are preparing to present our final work to the president,” Othwuon added.

“The official document of the national dialogue will be presented to the president and another one is the communique. These two documents are here which have been approved by the national conference and they are available here at South Sudan Constitutional Review Commission.”

According to the leaked document, the national dialogue steering committee said South Sudanese it consulted at the grassroots demanded President Salva Kiir and Dr. Riek Machar step aside from politics if the country is to have a peaceful transition.

Following reports of the document, the presidential press secretary, Ateny Wek Ateny told Eye Radio last week that the national dialogue cannot prevent any south Sudanese from participating in politics for it has no legal grounds.