Sacked VP Bol Mel Accused of Plundering South Sudan’s Oil Wealth – UN

JUBA — South Sudan’s powerful Vice President, Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel, has been dismissed from all his government, military, and party positions following damning United Nations findings accusing him of orchestrating the large-scale plunder of the country’s oil wealth.

A series of presidential decrees read on the state broadcaster SSBC on Wednesday evening announced Bol Mel’s dismissal alongside that of Central Bank Governor Addis Ababa Othow and Revenue Authority Commissioner Simon Akuei. They were replaced by Yieni Samuel Kosti and William Anyuon Kuol, respectively.

Sources within government say tensions had been mounting for months over the management of oil revenues between July 2024 and November 2025, during which millions of U.S. dollars allegedly vanished from state accounts.

The shake-up comes weeks after the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan (CHRSS) published a scathing report accusing Bol Mel of systematic looting that has deepened poverty and hunger across the country.

The report, titled “Plundering a Nation: How Rampant Corruption Unleashed a Human Rights Crisis in South Sudan,” found that Bol Mel and allied elites diverted billions in public funds for personal gain, leaving over 90% of planned infrastructure projects unbuilt.

According to the UN investigation, which spanned two years, Bol Mel played a central role in the “Oil for Roads” program, where $1.7 billion was channeled to companies linked to him between 2021 and 2024 for road contracts that were never delivered. In total, the commission estimates that $2.2 billion was siphoned off-budget, worsening a humanitarian crisis in which two-thirds of South Sudan’s 12 million people now face crisis-level food insecurity.

“Instead of directing national wealth toward serving the population, the country’s political leaders have systematically diverted both oil and non-oil revenues, through corruption and unaccountable schemes entrenched throughout government,” said Commissioner Barney Afako.

The report warns that this entrenched plunder has crippled South Sudan’s capacity to manage economic shocks and meet basic human rights obligations under international law.

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Bol Mel, already under U.S. sanctions since 2017—renewed in 2025—was previously accused of diverting public funds through his company ABMC Thai–South Sudan.

Analysts suggest the timing of his sacking, shortly after the UN report’s release, reflects mounting international pressure on President Salva Kiir’s administration to act on corruption. However, Juba officials have disputed the UN’s figures, blaming the country’s economic struggles on conflict and declining oil prices.

Commissioner Yasmin Sooka underscored the devastating human toll of corruption:

“On the ground, we have seen widespread deprivation and the absence of basic infrastructure and services — direct outcomes of corruption,” she said.

“South Sudan’s leaders must end the systemic plunder and impunity. When public revenue becomes private fortune, peace cannot hold.”

The CHRSS made 54 recommendations, urging the government to strengthen accountability mechanisms, prosecute economic crimes, and prioritize spending on public welfare.