Gabriel Oba-Apounou (born 28 January 1945) is a Congolese politician. During the single-party rule of the Congolese Labour Party (PCT), he was First Secretary of the Congolese Socialist Youth Union; he also served in the government of Congo-Brazzaville as Minister of Youth from 1979 to 1985, Minister of Agriculture from 1985 to 1989, and as Minister of State for Youth and Rural Development from 1989 to 1991. Later, he was First Vice-President of the National Assembly from 2002 to 2007, and he has been a member of the Senate since 2008. Political career A native of Oyo, he belongs to the Mbochi tribe. He is also a cousin of Congolese president Denis Sassou Nguesso. After completing high school in 1963, he moved to Brazzaville to pursue physical education studies. He quickly earned his certificate and started teaching physical education in Brazzaville. To avoid being recruited into the army like many of his peers at the time, he moved back up north in 1965 and settled in Impfondo where he continued to teach physical education. Upon his return to Brazzaville in 1969, he immediately joined the Congolese Labour Party (Parti Congolais du Travail, PCT), newly founded by Captain Marien Ngouabi. His remarkable public speaking skills enabled him to quickly rise through the party's ranks. The following year he was appointed chief of district in Abala in the Plateaux department. In 1979 he was elected leader of the Union of the Congolese Socialist Youth (Union de la Jeunesse Socialiste Congolaise, UJSC), the youth wing of the PCT. That same year, Oba-Apounou was admitted to the PCT Central Committee, and appointed to the cabinet as Minister of Youth; his ministerial portfolio was expanded to include sport in 1984. He was dismissed from the cabinet in December 1985, but he remained on the Secretariat of the PCT Central Committee. He was admitted to 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 for the Youth. On 13 August 1989, he was appointed to the government as Minister of State for Youth and Rural Development, holding that post until 1991. After Pascal Lissouba defeated Sassou-Nguesso in the 1992 presidential elections, Oba-Apounou remained neutral for much of the 1990s. But out of loyalty to Sassou Nguesso, he refused to work for the Lissouba administration. He was later rewarded for his