South Sudan President ousts vice president in abrupt purge, deepening uncertainty in Juba
Bol - a businessman-turned-politician long regarded as one of Kiir's closest allies - had risen rapidly through the ranks this year.
South Sudan's President Salva Kiir has dismissed Vice President Benjamin Bol Mel in a sweeping late-night purge that stripped the 52-year-old of all political and military positions and demoted him from general to private, state television announced on Wednesday.
A string of decrees read out on the South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation removed Bol as Vice President, head of the government's Economic Cluster, and Deputy Chairperson of the ruling SPLM.
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He was also downgraded within the National Security Service. No successor was named, leaving a vacuum at the helm of the country's economic policy.
The move came only hours after Bol's office denied reports that he had been placed under house arrest.
Former Vice-President Dr Benjamin Bol Mel. (Photo: Benjamin Bol Mel/X)
Earlier in the day, security forces led by the NSS chief and the head of military intelligence reportedly surrounded Bol's Juba residence, disarmed his guards, and ordered Ugandan troops assigned to protect him to withdraw.
The operation fuelled speculation about his detention and heightened uncertainty over the country's already fragile political stability.
Bol - a businessman-turned-politician long regarded as one of Kiir's closest allies - had risen rapidly through the ranks this year.
His appointment as Vice President in February, promotion to SPLM First Deputy Chairman in May, and elevation to full General in September prompted talk that he was being groomed as a potential successor.
But his assertiveness, regional engagements, and growing political base within the SPLM reportedly unsettled Kiir's inner circle, according to Sudan Post.
His removal suggests a tightening of the presidency's control.
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