South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has dismissed one of his five vice presidents, Benjamin Bol Mel, in a dramatic shake-up of the government’s upper ranks, as the country faces escalating internal tensions. Bol Mel, appointed in February and widely considered Kiir’s likely successor, was also stripped of his roles as deputy leader of the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) and demoted from general to private in the National Security Service. No official reason for his dismissal has been provided, and a replacement has not yet been announced.
Bol Mel has been under U.S. sanctions since 2017 for alleged corruption, and a recent United Nations report claimed that companies linked to him received $1.7 billion for road construction projects that were never completed. He has not publicly responded to the corruption allegations.
In addition to Bol Mel’s removal, President Kiir dismissed the governor of the central bank and the head of the revenue authority, both considered close allies of the former vice president.
The changes come amid heightened concerns over Kiir’s succession and fears of renewed conflict. South Sudan’s planned elections have been postponed twice, and Kiir’s former civil war rival, first vice president Riek Machar, was arrested in March on treason charges. Meanwhile, fighting between Kiir’s forces and various armed groups has intensified in recent months.
Since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011, South Sudan has struggled with political instability and conflict, including a civil war between 2013 and 2018 that claimed an estimated 400,000 lives. The nation currently maintains a five-vice-president structure, established under the 2018 peace agreement, designed to balance power among key factions.
