territories of French Equatorial Africa, including Oubangui-Chari. Collectively, the four territories constituted a federation led by a General High Commissioner with the assistance of a Grand Council. Within Oubangui-Chari, the former French governor became the High Commissioner, who was to preside over a Council of Government, with its members to be chosen by the newly-created Territorial Assembly. On 31 March, MESAN won all seats in the Assembly and, at Boganda's request, Hector Rivierez was elected its presiding officer. He also arranged for Abel Goumba, the territory's only African doctor and a former catechism student of his, to become Vice President of the Council of Government. The council was installed on 17 May without Boganda as a member, since he did not want to participate in a government presided over by a French commissioner, and was also increasingly concerned with political organising at a federal level. Instead, he became President of the Grand Council. The only European minister in the Council of Government was Roger Guérillot, who had previously secured the confidence of Boganda and worked as MESAN's treasurer. He was given charge of the portfolio for economic and administrative affairs. Guérillot sought to increase Africanisation of the administration, since there was a lack of trained Oubanguians and such a change would weaken the government and strengthen the position of the French colonists. He encouraged Boganda to go on a rhetorical offensive against French officials, whom he dubbed "the saboteurs of the loi-cadre". In a speech before the Territorial Assembly, Boganda suggested that the French administrators should leave and Oubanguians could "curse their shameful memory for ever", but also noted that it would take several years to train African personnel to replace them. He softened his stance a few days later while addressing the Grand Council, suggesting the colonies needed "a new form of administration" and proposing the transformation of districts into "rural communities" with trusted officials from the existing bureaucracy serving as directors of each. In the mid-1950s a Bangui study group had proposed the construction of a rail line from Bangui to Chad. This was both to secure Oubangui-Chari's commercial relations with southern Chad—which was facing strain due to competition from Cameroon—and to satisfy private firms that sought a large state contract to make up for the decline in foreign investment driven by uncertainties in the territory's political future. Boganda believed that it would only be reasonable to embark