A leading member of the Jieng (Dinka) Council of Elders has denied reports that his advisory group plans to replace President Slava Kiir with a new person in June.
This comes after reports that the council is scheduled to meet in June to replace Salva Kiir with a new leader.
The Dinka Council of Elders is comprised of members of government, MPs and political supporters of President Salva Kiir. It is not a body of Dinka traditional leaders.
Joshua Dau, one of the elders and the co-chair of the Jieng Council, said in a Thursday statement that the council was a civil society with no political influence in South Sudan politics to make political decisions on behalf of the country’s leadership.
“There have been malicious reports attributing unfounded allegation to us that the council is planning to hold a meeting in June to discuss strategies and plan to succeed His Excellency, the President of the Republic from the office. I want to state that this is not true. It is not the work of the council to make political decisions. We are not a political organization to make decision for political parties,” said Dau.
Dau asserted that President Kiir was elected by the people of South Sudan and it is the people who would make their choice during elections.