According to an investigation by Kenya Insights, while mothers in South Sudan watch their children’s bellies swell from hunger, $1.7 billion in public oil revenue has vanished. Investigators from the United Nations and U.S. regulatory agencies have traced the missing funds to networks linked to one of the most powerful men in the country — Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel — who now stands one heartbeat from the presidency.
In May 2025, despite being under U.S. sanctions since 2017 for corruption and abuse of state contracts, Bol Mel was promoted to First Vice Chairperson of the ruling SPLM, positioning him as a likely successor to President Salva Kiir.
Kenya Insights reports that UN findings show $1.7 billion of the $2.2 billion allocated to the Oil-for-Roads program between 2021 and 2024 flowed into Bol Mel–linked companies — while over 90% of the road network remains unbuilt.
The result is not mismanagement. Kenya Insights describes it as a systematic petroleum looting machine — one of the most brazen in Africa’s modern history.
THE FIRST SIGNS: THE GATEKEEPERS FALL
Kenya Insights recounts that the quiet dismissal of General Manasa Machar Bol, the long-serving Director of Security and Coordination in the Ministry of Petroleum, signaled the unraveling of internal oversight. Manasa was known as one of the few who questioned missing cargoes and irregular shipments.
But the real shock came on November 4, 2025, when President Kiir removed Undersecretary Deng Lual Wol and reinstated Dr. Chol Thon Abel.
In his farewell letter, Deng warned the president that oil exports risked collapse due to conflict in Sudan. But documents and testimonies obtained by Kenya Insights allege Deng was a key operational conduit in:
- Oil cargoes disappearing from revenue records
- Crude sold at discounts of up to $10 per barrel, wiping out $6 million per 600,000-barrel shipment
- Payments routed to offshore or parallel accounts, not the central bank
No official state audit has yet accounted for these losses.
THE CENTER OF THE NETWORK: DR. BENJAMIN BOL MEL
Kenya Insights describes Bol Mel as the chief engineer of South Sudan’s captured oil economy.
Through his companies — including ABMC Thai-South Sudan Construction and Home and Away Ltd — Bol Mel built a fortune from state contracts issued without competitive bidding.
The U.S. Treasury, when sanctioning him in December 2017, described his operations as massive state capture.
Yet, instead of being removed from influence:
- February 2025: Bol Mel was appointed Vice President for the Economic Cluster
- May 2025: South Sudan asked the U.S. to lift sanctions on Bol Mel in exchange for accepting more deportees (Politico report)
According to Kenya Insights and U.S. investigative records:
- Bol Mel–linked companies have received over $3.5 billion in state contracts.
- The South Sudan Anti-Corruption Commission uncovered a UAE bank account holding $457.2 million allegedly linked to him — and was ordered to stop the investigation.
This is the scale of the machine.
THE LAST GATE: AYUWEL NGOR KACGOR AT NILEPET
Kenya Insights identifies Engineer Ayuwel (Ayuel) Ngor Kacgor, appointed Managing Director of Nilepet in October 2024, as the last key figure ensuring continued control over oil revenue and cargo distribution.
Under Ayuwel:
- Nilepet workers have not been paid since April 2025
- Food rations and medical insurance were suspended
- Workers reported colleagues dying from treatable illnesses
- Employees staged a sit-in strike, demanding his removal
Meanwhile, Kenya Insights reports whistleblower evidence that:
- Ayuwel recently obtained a $2 million mansion in Karen, Nairobi
- The property was registered in his wife’s name, Mrs. Yar Oka
Multiple attempts by Kenya Insights to obtain comment from Ayuwel received no response.
Sources inside government describe him as “Bol Mel’s last trusted lieutenant.”
If he falls, the pipeline of diverted oil revenue is disrupted.
THE PARALLEL OIL STATE
UN investigators and Kenya Insights document how the petroleum system now functions:
- Cargoes are assigned to preferred “friendly traders”
- Payments are redirected to third-party accounts
- Oil-backed loans and barter deals never appear in the national budget
Example: A crude buyer was instructed to transfer proceeds to Amuk General Trading, a military supplier — not the central bank.
The growing dangers surrounding South Sudan’s oil dealings erupted into public view when BB Energy filed a legal claim in a British court on June 27, 2025, after the government allegedly failed to deliver a crude shipment prepaid in 2024 under a Dar Blend supply agreement—even though the export pipeline had already resumed operations. The case underscored that alleged diversion of cargoes is not just a rumor inside the sector, but a dispute now playing out in international courts.
Kenya Insights reports that this level of opacity is not accidental. The Ministry of Petroleum is said to function with partial disclosure of production volumes, nontransparent contracting, and revenue arrangements negotiated outside formal budget channels. In such a system, cargo-by-cargo manipulation of oil sales becomes not only feasible but nearly impossible to detect externally, allowing entire shipments—and their proceeds—to effectively disappear.
THE HUMAN CONSEQUENCE
South Sudan earned $23 billion in oil revenue between July 2011 and December 2024.
Yet:
- 76 out of 79 counties face severe food insecurity
- Secondary school enrollment is just 5%
- One in ten children die in childbirth
- The country scored 8/100, ranking last in Transparency International’s 2024 Corruption Index
Meanwhile:
- The president’s personal medical unit received more funding than nationwide healthcare
This is what $1.7 billion stolen looks like in human terms.
THE COUNTRY’S FUTURE HAS BEEN SOLD
As Kenya Insights documents:
- South Sudan owes $1,021,282,210 to Qatar National Bank
- Another $657 million to Afreximbank, with 13.5% interest
- A $13 billion loan negotiated with a UAE-registered company was flagged by the UN as potentially corrupt
The Kenya Insights investigation claims South Sudan is paying debts on money stolen from its own citizens.
WHAT COMES NEXT
If Ayuwel Ngor Kacgor is removed, South Sudan’s petroleum corruption network could fracture.
But Kenya Insights warns:
Replacing individuals does nothing if the system stays intact.
Accountability requires:
- Public audit of Nilepet and Ministry of Petroleum
- Full transparency of all crude sales
- Recovery of offshore assets
- Criminal prosecution — not reshuffles
One analyst told Kenya Insights:
“When the hyena is in charge of the goats, there will be no one left to count.”
According to Kenya Insights, those named in this investigation — including Deng Lual Wol, Ayuwel Ngor Kacgor, Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel, and associated business networks — have either denied wrongdoing or have not issued public responses to the specific allegations detailed here.
However, when United Nations investigative reports, U.S. sanctions reaffirmed as recently as 2025, international court filings, independent media investigations, and firsthand accounts from within Nilepet and government institutions all point in the same direction, a clear picture emerges: South Sudan’s oil sector has not merely been mismanaged — it has been captured and repurposed to enrich a small ruling circle while the nation descends into hunger and deprivation.