By Caroline Kirabo
In order to inform the Sudanese refugee community about the advancements made in the R-ARCSS’s implementation and the upcoming general elections in December 2024, the commissioner of Yei River County, Kanyikwa, met with the refugees in Uganda. In the hopes of realizing the peace accord, he assured the refugees that the government was dedicated to carrying it out. Kanyikwa stated in a statement made public on Sunday that certain refugee populations’ anxieties, uncertainties, and pessimism prevent them from going back to their home countries.
He acknowledged the improved relationship between the residents of the country and the army due to the efforts of the government and its partners and said there is a need for the refugees to come back home and engage in agriculture to produce their food since there are a lot of good cuts in Uganda.
Kanyikwa added that in some schools in the camps, there are more than 1000 pupils in one classroom, which makes the learning not conducive there. He urged parents to bring their children back home to acquire a better education.
This meeting was a follow-up to the resolutions of the Yumbe Cross Border Relations meeting held on October 26, 2023, between the West Nile Local Government Districts of Adjumani, Koboko, Moyo, and Yumbe and the Central Equatoria State Government delegation, comprising officials and the County Local Governments of Kajo-Keji, Lainya, Morobo, and Yei River, led by Emmanuel Adil Anthony Wani, Governor of Central Equatoria State.
It should be remembered that South Sudan experienced civil wars in 2013 and 2016, when President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar fell out in each of the cases.
This war led to massive displacement of people, mostly to neighboring countries like Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Sudan.