South Sudan’s President, Salva Kiir, has sacked one of his five vice presidents in a series of firings that come amid escalating internal conflict.
Benjamin Bol Mel was appointed in February and had been widely rumoured to be Kiir’s preferred successor.
The powerful vice president was also stripped of his position as deputy leader of the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) party, and was demoted from general to private in the National Security Service.
No reason was given for his sacking and no successor has been named.
Bol Mel has been under United States. sanctions for alleged corruption since 2017, and a recent United Nations report accused companies affiliated with him of receiving $1.7 billion for road construction work that was never done.
He has never directly responded to corruption accusations made against him.
President Kiir also fired the governor of the central bank and the head of the revenue authority, both seen as close to Bol Mel.
These latest changes in the upper ranks of South Sudan’s government come at a time when questions are being asked about Kiir’s succession amid fears of a return to civil war.
Planned elections have been postponed twice and Kiir’s main rival during the civil war, first vice president Riek Machar, was arrested in March and charged with treason.
In addition, fighting between forces loyal to Kiir and various armed groups has escalated in recent months.
South Sudan won its independence from Sudan in 2011 but quickly descended into a civil war that killed an estimated 400,000 people between 2013 and 2018.
It has five vice presidents according to a structure established under a 2018 peace agreement.
