JUBA, South Sudan — President Salva Kiir of South Sudan has abruptly sacked his Vice President, Benjamin Bol Mel, who had recently been positioned as a leading candidate for presidential succession.
The move, announced via state television decree without explanation, has fueled concerns of growing political instability and a potential return to civil conflict in the world’s newest nation.
In the sweeping decree, President Kiir not only removed Bol Mel from his civilian post but also stripped him of his military rank of general and dismissed him from the National Security Service (NSS).
Simultaneously, Kiir sacked the central bank governor and the head of the revenue authority, both considered close allies of the outgoing Vice President.
The rise and sudden fall of a potential successor
Bol Mel, 47, was appointed Vice President in February 2025, replacing veteran politician James Wani Igga. His influence appeared to cement when he was elevated to become the first deputy chairman of the ruling SPLM party, a position analysts believed strategically placed him as a potential successor to the 74-year-old Kiir.
The President later reinforced this status by promoting him to the full rank of a general in the NSS.
His dismissal follows intense speculation on social media about an internal power struggle within the SPLM.
A senior government official, speaking anonymously due to safety concerns, confirmed the internal friction:
“It’s good that he has gone,” he said, adding that Bol Mel had been a “divisive figure” in government.
President Kiir has not yet announced replacements for any of the positions vacated by the dismissals.
Controversies and political turmoil
Bol Mel’s brief time in a top leadership position was marked by controversy, stemming from US sanctions imposed against him in 2017 and renewed earlier this year over alleged corruption.
The US Treasury described Bol Mel as Kiir’s “principal financial advisor,” a characterization the President’s office denied.
Bol Mel has never publicly addressed the corruption accusations and has not yet commented on his sacking.
The unexpected firings come at a moment of acute political fragility following the recent collapse of a delicate power-sharing agreement between President Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar.
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Machar, who previously served as Vice President under the peace deal, was sacked and arrested earlier this year. In September, he was charged with murder, treason, and crimes against humanity—a move his spokesperson condemned as a “political witch-hunt.”
The charges followed a government claim that a militia allegedly linked to Machar had killed 250 soldiers and a general.
South Sudan, an oil-rich nation that gained independence from Sudan in 2011, was engulfed by a devastating civil war two years later.
Although the 2018 power-sharing agreement formally ended the conflict, planned elections have been postponed twice in the past three years, and escalating violence has intensified fears of renewed civil unrest.
