South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has sacked Vice President Benjamin Bol Mel, stripping him of his party and military positions in a major shake-up of the country’s leadership. The dismissal comes amid growing internal conflict and questions over Kiir’s succession. Bol Mel, appointed in February 2025 and long rumored as Kiir’s favored successor, was removed 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 was given, and a successor has not yet been named.
The vice president has been under U.S. sanctions since 2017 for alleged corruption. A recent United Nations report accused companies linked to him of receiving $1.7 billion for road construction projects that were never completed. Bol Mel has not publicly responded to the allegations. In addition to Bol Mel, Kiir also fired the governor of the central bank and the head of the revenue authority, both considered allies of the ousted vice president.
These changes come as South Sudan grapples with escalating clashes between government forces and various armed groups, while fears of a return to civil war grow. Planned national elections have been postponed twice, and first vice president Riek Machar, Kiir’s former civil war rival, was arrested in March and charged with treason. South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011, but a civil war between Kiir and Machar’s factions from 2013 to 2018 killed an estimated 400,000 people. Under a 2018 peace agreement, the country currently has five vice presidents, a structure designed to maintain political balance and stability.
