Gabriel Oba-Apounou

Gabriel Oba-Apounou (born 1945) is a Congolese politician. During the single-party rule of the Congolese Labour Party (PCT), he was First Secretary of the Union of the Congolese Socialist Youth; he also served in the government of Congo-Brazzaville as Minister of Youth from 1979 to 1985 and as Minister of State for Youth and Rural Development from 1989 to 1991. Later, he was First Vice-President of the National Assembly of the Republic of the Congo from 2002 to 2007, and he has been a member of the Senate since 2008.

Political career

As a native of Oyo,[1] he is a member the Mbochi tribe and also a cousin of Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso, with whom he grew up with. Gabriel left his native village after his freshmen year in high school and went to Brazzaville, the capital city, where he dreamed of becoming of gymnastics teacher. He soon graduated from high school there and later earned his certificate to teach gymnastics. His physical abilities attracted a couple of colonial army officers, who wished to enroll him in the Army.

Escaping the colonials, he went to Impfondo, a small town in the north of the country, to pursue teaching gymnastics. In 1969, he returned to Brazzaville to join the Congolese Labour Party (Parti Congolais du Travail, PCT), newly founded by Captain Marien Ngouabi. The next year he was appointed as Chief of District at Abala, where his mother was born. Gabriel Oba-Apounou proved himself as a talented orator at several meetings held by the Central Committee of the PCT. The leaders soon asked him in 1979 to return to Brazzaville to serve as the leader of the Union of the Congolese Socialist Youth (Union de la Jeunesse Socialiste Congolaise, UJSC), a subdivision of the PCT.

Oba-Apounou joined the PCT Central Committee in 1979,[2] and he was appointed to the government as Minister of Youth in the same year;[3] his ministerial portfolio was expanded to include Sport in 1984.[4] He was dismissed from the government in December 1985, but he remained on the Secretariat of the PCT Central Committee.[5] He joined the PCT Political Bureau (where he was assigned responsibility for the youth) in 1989, in addition to serving as Secretary of the PCT Central Committee in charge of the Youth. On 13 August 1989, he was appointed to the government as Minister of State for the Youth and Rural Development,[6] holding that post until 1991.[1]

Being loyal to his cousin and party comrade Denis Sassou Nguesso, Oba-Apounou did not collaborate with Pascal Lissouba, who was President from 1992 to 1997. In 1998, after the return of Sassou-Nguesso to power, he was appointed as President of the Commission for Defense & Security in the National Council of the Transition (Conseil National de Transition or CNT - it served as the Parliament from 1998 to 2002). In 2001, he was elected as President of the PCT for the City of Brazzaville. He was then in charge of the 2002 presidential election, which Sassou Nguesso won without any major competition. In the May 2002 parliamentary election, Oba-Apounou was elected to the National Assembly as the PCT candidate in the Abala constituency of Plateaux Region; he won the seat in the first round, receiving 73.63% of the vote.[7] Rumors predicted that he would become the next Mayor of Brazzaville, but he was instead elected as First Vice-President of the National Assembly on August 10, 2002.[8] Oba-Apounou was also assigned responsibility for the National Assembly's relations with the African Parliamentary Assembly on August 23, 2002.[9]

Oba-Apounou served as First Vice-President of the National Assembly until 2007.[10] He ran again in the 2007 parliamentary election as the PCT candidate in Abala, facing Minister of Higher Education Henri Ossébi and an independent candidate, Joseph Mbossa.[11] Oba-Apounou placed first in the first round,[12][13] receiving 40.21% of the vote against 32.55% for Ossébi, and he therefore faced Ossébi in a second round.[13] He was defeated by Ossébi in the second round.[14]

Oba-Apounou is a member of the Political Bureau of the PCT, and in February 2008 he was elected as President of the departmental coordination of the Rally of the Presidential Majority (RMP)—the coalition supporting Sassou Nguesso—in Brazzaville.[15] He held that post at the time of the June 2008 local elections.[16] Oba-Apounou was elected as a Senator from Plateaux Region as an RMP candidate in the August 2008 Senate election, receiving 59 out of 61 possible votes.[17] He was then elected as President of the Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Committee in the Senate on August 29, 2008.[18]

Due to his years as the leader of the UJSC, he remains very popular among the people, especially the young ones who often called him "Ya Gaby". Many remember him coming to the rescue of college students who did not get their student pensions on time. He was also responsible for granting scholarships to thousands of students and sending them all over the world to study in foreign universities. He probably is the most popular official ever under Sassou-Nguesso and also one of the wealthiest ones.

References

  1. ^ a b "Who's Who", CONGO BRAZZAVILLE: LES HOMMES DE POUVOIR n°1, Africa Intelligence, 29 October 2002 (French).
  2. ^ Rémy Bazenguissa-Ganga, Les voies du politique au Congo: essai de sociologie historique (1997), Karthala Editions, pages 442–443 (French).
  3. ^ Bazenguissa-Ganga, Les voies du politique au Congo: essai de sociologie historique, pages 264 and 442–443 (French).
  4. ^ Bazenguissa-Ganga, Les voies du politique au Congo: essai de sociologie historique, page 280 (French).
  5. ^ Bazenguissa-Ganga, Les voies du politique au Congo: essai de sociologie historique, page 286 (French).
  6. ^ Bazenguissa-Ganga, Les voies du politique au Congo: essai de sociologie historique, pages 295–296 (French).
  7. ^ "Elections législatives : les 51 élus du premier tour", Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, June 5, 2002 (French).
  8. ^ "Jean-Pierre Thystère-Tchikaya élu président de l’Assemblée nationale", Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, August 10, 2002 (French).
  9. ^ "Assemblée nationale : mise en place des bureaux des commissions permanentes et clôture de la session inaugurale", Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, August 24, 2002 (French).
  10. ^ "La nouvelle Assemblée nationale entre en fonction", Xinhua (Jeuneafrique.com), September 5, 2007 (French).
  11. ^ Willy Mbossa, "Législatives. Intense activité politique dans le nord des Plateaux", Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, June 19, 2002 (French).
  12. ^ "2e tour des législatives. Gabriel Oba Apounou lance un appel aux militants du PCT", Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, July 18, 2002 (French).
  13. ^ a b Ya Sanza, "Législatives : La liste des duels du second tour", Congopage.com, 3 July 2007 (French).
  14. ^ "La liste complète des députés", Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, August 11, 2007 (French).
  15. ^ "Le Rassemblement de la majorité présidentielle achève sa restructuration dans le département de Brazzaville", Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, February 14, 2008 (French).
  16. ^ Thierry Noungou, "Elections locales du 29 juin - Isidore Mvouba donne le top de la campagne électorale du RMP", Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, June 17, 2008 (French).
  17. ^ "Résultats des élections sénatoriales dans sept départements", La Semaine Africaine, Number 2815, August 8, 2008, page 3 (French).
  18. ^ Thierry Noungou, "Sénat : les bureaux des commissions permanentes entièrement reconstitués", Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, August 30, 2008 (French).