South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has dismissed one of his five vice presidents, Benjamin Bol Mel, in a surprise move that comes amid rising political tensions and renewed fighting across the country.
Bol Mel, who was appointed in February, had been widely seen as Kiir’s preferred successor. Along with losing his vice-presidential post, he was also removed as deputy leader of the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) and demoted from general to private in the National Security Service.
The government gave no official reason for his dismissal, and no successor has been named.
Bol Mel has been under U.S. sanctions since 2017 for alleged corruption, and a recent United Nations report accused companies linked to him of receiving $1.7 billion for road projects that were never completed. He has not publicly responded to those accusations.
President Kiir also fired the governor of the central bank and the head of the revenue authority, both considered close allies of Bol Mel.
The leadership shake-up comes as South Sudan faces mounting political uncertainty. National elections have been postponed twice, and Kiir’s long-time rival, First Vice President Riek Machar, was arrested in March and charged with treason.
Fighting between government troops and armed groups has intensified in recent months, raising fears of a return to civil war.
South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011, but soon descended into a brutal civil conflict that killed an estimated 400,000 people between 2013 and 2018. The country currently maintains five vice presidents, as laid out in the 2018 peace agreement.
