President Salva Kiir Mayardit on Wednesday relieved Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel from membership to the board of directors of South Sudan’s government-owned Nile Petroleum Corporation (Nilepet). The decree was read on South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC).
Bol Mel was appointed a member of the Nilepet board of directors in 2020 in a presidential decree. No clear reasons were given for the appointment then. No clear reasons have been given for his removal now.
Bol Mel currently serves as a Senior Presidential Special Envoy on Special Programs in the Office of the President. Bol Mel also serves as SPLM’s first deputy Secretary-General for Political Affairs and Mobilization.
In the decree relieving Bol Mel of his tenure on the board of directors at Nilepet, business mogul Ladu Lukak was appointed as a replacement.
Dr. Benjamin Bol was sanctioned by the U.S. government on December 2017 over alleged corruption liked to his business firms.
His corporate companies – Thai South Sudan Crusher, Aggregates, and Building Materials Company (ABMC) were designated by the United States for their involvement in corruption in South Sudan.
Also, in December 2021, the US Treasury Department sanctioned two companies, ARC Resource Corporation Ltd and Winners Construction Company Ltd, owned by Dr. Bol Mel. But the ARC Resource Corporation has denied the accusations and asked the US government to explain in detail how it got involved in the embezzlement of public resources.
Nilepet Board of Directors is a compendium of appointed officials that represent stakeholders and formulates policy for the corporate management and oversight of NILEPET.
Nilepet was established under section 13 (1) of the 2012 Petroleum Act with a mandate to participate in the upstream, midstream and downstream activities of oil and gas (Petroleum Sector) on behalf of the government of the Republic of South Sudan. Presently, Nilepet is a vibrant National Oil and Gas Company of South Sudan with eight active Joint Ventures.