parliamentary election as the UP candidate in the Ignié constituency of Pool Region. He also stood as the UP candidate in the August 1992 presidential election, placing 11th with 0.45% of the vote. After his departure from Milongo's transitional government, Mbemba again practiced as a lawyer from July 1992 to October 1997, in addition to his political activities. In January 1993, following President Pascal Lissouba's dissolution of the National Assembly, Mbemba became President of the National Commission for the Organization of the Early Legislative Election. He was re-elected to the National Assembly as the UP candidate in Ignié constituency in the mid-1993 parliamentary election. Following the June–October 1997 civil war, in which Lissouba was ousted, Mbemba was appointed as Minister of Labour and Social Security by President Denis Sassou Nguesso on 2 November 1997. In March 1998, "armed bandits" wounded Mbemba during an invasion of his home, while also killing a bodyguard and driver. He was moved to the position of Minister of Justice on 12 January 1999. In the May 2002 parliamentary election, he was elected to the National Assembly as the UP candidate in Ignié constituency; he won the seat in the first round with 61.33% of the vote. Following that election, he remained Minister of Justice and was additionally assigned responsibility for human rights in the government appointed on 18 August 2002. Mbemba served as Justice Minister until he was instead appointed as Minister of State for the Civil Service and State Reform on 7 January 2005. In the 2007 parliamentary election, he was again elected to the National Assembly as the UP candidate in Ignié constituency. He won the seat in the second round after receiving 39.17% of the vote in the first round against 37.84% for Carole Mantot, an independent candidate. He retained his post as Minister of State for the Civil Service and State Reform in the government appointed after the election, on 30 December 2007. Mbemba and his party supported Sassou Nguesso when the latter ran for another term in the July 2009 presidential election. In the absence of any serious opposition candidates, Sassou Nguesso easily won re-election. Following the election, he appointed a new government, in which Mbemba was not included, on 15 September 2009. Sassou Nguesso instead appointed Mbemba as a member of the National Commission of Human Rights, a constitutional body, a few days later. Mbemba was then elected as