The national dialogue conference for Greater Equatoria region that was scheduled to take place on 19 August in Juba has been postponed to 26 August, an official said.

Paul Lado Bureng, representative of the sub-committees for Equatoria region, told reporters in Juba last Friday that the regional conference would not take place as scheduled.

He said the postponement for one week is due to the fact that the national legislative assembly is currently holding its sessions on the national budget at the Freedom Hall.

“We have another important issue in the national government. The budget has not been completed and it may be completed in the coming two weeks,” Bureng said.

He further said they had briefed Equatoria governors on the procedures followed in the selection of representatives in the region.

“There are more demands in Equatoria to make the whole system of our nation to go the right way,” he said.

Similar regional conferences were conducted in February and May for the Greater Bahr el Ghazal and Upper Nile regions respectively.

In December 2016, South Sudanese President Salva Kiir launched the national dialogue initiative that seeks to reconcile and unite the East African nation torn apart by more than five years of civil war.