South Sudanese refugees in Kakuma Refugee Camp in neighbouring Kenya expressed fear that the national dialogue launched by President Salva Kiir is too tightly controlled by a small group of people, sidelining most refugees who are ready to participate in the process for the sake of peace in the country.
The Kakuma camp, in the northwestern part of Kenya, accommodates hundreds of thousands of South Sudanese refugees escaping conflict in their country.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Friday, several camp leaders criticized the national dialogue subcommittee for refugees for allegedly excluding them from the recent consultation process conducted in Kenya.
Aweng Lueth Chol Biar, leader of Upper Nile communities at Kakuma camp, said they were not invited to take part in the recent consultation conducted by the national dialogue committee in Nairobi.
“We heard that Deng Dau was in Nairobi, but he returned to Juba. We were expecting him to come to us here in Kakuma,” he said.
Peter Dhieu, leader of Bahr al Ghazal communities at Kakuma refugee camp, complained that they were not involved in the recent consultation with South Sudanese refugees.
“We heard that the members of the national dialogue committee came to Nairobi and we thought that they will proceed to Kakuma, but we were told that they returned back to Juba,” he said.
”We were not invited to participate in the consultation process that was conducted in Nairobi, but we heard that there were consultations in Nairobi,” he added.
Dhieu pointed out that the refugees are the key stakeholders to be involved in the national dialogue process.
Samuel Agath, leader of Equatoria communities at Kakuma camp, said they are not aware of the ongoing national dialogue in the country. “The national dialogue process needs all South Sudanese to come together to bring about peace in the country. The government was supposed to invite representatives of the refugees here in Kakuma,” he said.
Members of the national dialogue subcommittee for refugees could not immediately be reached for comment.
In May, President Kiir launched the national dialogue body to organise the national dialogue process to address the root causes of the ongoing conflict.
However, the main opposition hinted that it will not be part of the process, describing it as “bogus.”