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Minister of Mines, Pierre Oba (center) - Validation mission in Republic of the Congo, May 2017

Pierre Oba (born 17 July 1953) is a Congolese security official who has served in the government of Congo-Brazzaville as Minister of Mines since 2005. During the 1980s, he served successively as Director of Presidential Security and as Director-General of Public Security. Later, he was Minister of the Interior from 1997 to 2002 and Minister of Security from 2002 to 2005. He is also a Général de Brigade of the National Police.^[1]

Background and early military–political career

Oba, an ethnic Mbochi,^[2] was born at Ollembé, located in the Ollombo District of Plateaux Region.^[1] He is a cousin of Congolese President Denis Sassou-Nguesso.^[3] Oba became Director of Presidential Security in 1984^[3]^[4] and was named Director-General of Public Security on 11 September 1987.^[3] In 1989, he was elected to the Central Committee of the Congolese Labour Party (PCT).^[3]^[4]

In the early 1990s, when the PCT's single-party rule collapsed and multiparty politics was introduced, Oba lost his post as Director-General of Public Security; subsequently he served as aide-de-camp to Sassou Nguesso.^[5] Along with Colonel Michel Ngakala, he created the "Cobras", a militia loyal to opposition leader Sassou-Nguesso, in 1993.^[6]

Political career since 1997

Oba participated in the June–October 1997 civil war on Sassou Nguesso's side and was wounded in the fighting.^[5] After Sassou Nguesso's Cobra militia returned him to power in October 1997, Oba was appointed as Minister of the Interior, Security, and Territorial Administration on 2 November 1997.^[2]^[7]^[8] He was the only member of the government who did not stand as a candidate in the May–June 2002 parliamentary election.^[9] After the election, in the government named on 18 August 2002, Oba was appointed as Minister of Security and Police.^[10]^[11]

Oba was believed to have been marginalized by Jean-Dominique Okemba, another influential security official and Sassou Nguesso relative, during the mid-2000s.^[12]^[13] In the government named on 7 January 2005, he was moved to the position of Minister of Mines, Mining Industries, and Geology;^[2]^[14] the move decreased Oba's prominence.^[5]

Following the death of Jean-Baptiste Tati Loutard, the Minister of State for Hydrocarbons, in July 2009, Oba additionally managed his portfolio in an interim capacity.^[15] He was retained as Minister of Mines and Geology in the government appointed on 15 September 2009, but was released from his interim responsibility for the hydrocarbons portfolio.^[16]

In August 2013, he was probed by French authorities for the alleged role he may have played in human rights abuses during the 1997 civil war.^[17]

References

^ ^a ^b "Short official biography" (in French). Archived from the original on March 22, 2005. Retrieved 2018-01-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link).
^ ^a ^b ^c Emmanuel Okamba, La gouvernance, une affaire de société: Analyse mythiumétrique de la performance (2010), L'Harmattan, page 181 (in French).
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Rémy Bazenguissa-Ganga, Les voies du politique au Congo: essai de sociologie historique (1997), Karthala Editions, pages 292 and 443.
^ ^a ^b "Oba Pierre", Congo Brazzaville: Les Hommes de Pouvoir n°1, Africa Intelligence, 29 October 2002 (in French).
^ ^a ^b ^c John F. Clark and Samuel Decalo, Historical Dictionary of Republic of the Congo, fourth edition (2012), Scarecrow Press, page 329.
^ Mbow M. Amphas, Political Transformations of the Congo (2000), Pentland Press, page 102.
^ Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social, and Cultural Series (1997), pages 12,887–12,888.
^ John F. Clark, The Failure of Democracy in the Republic of Congo (2008), Lynne Rienner Publishers, page 260.
^ "Elections législatives : le ministère de l’Intérieur publie la liste officielle des 1 199 candidats" Archived 2012-02-26 at the Wayback Machine, Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, 14 May 2002 (in French).
^ "Le nouveau gouvernement a été mis en place", La Semaine Africaine, 22 August 2002 (in French).
^ "Old guard, new guard", Africa Confidential, volume 43, number 17, 30 August 2002.
^ Paul Soni-Benga, Les non-dits des violences politiques du Congo-Brazzaville (2005), L'Harmattan, page 303 (in French).
^ "Nepotists' nirvana", Africa Confidential, volume 45, number 9, 30 April 2004.
^ Justin Ducker Mambiki, "Nouveau gouvernement du Congo Brazzaville. Le Congo a un premier ministre", Congo-Media, 12 January 2005 (in French).
^ Willy Mbossa, "Parlement : le Sénat adopte la réglementation sur la pêche, le partage de production pétrolière, et la propagande anticonceptionnelle", Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, 30 August 2009 (in French).
^ "Gouvernement - La nouvelle équipe compte trente-sept membres" Archived 2012-03-26 at the Wayback Machine, Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, 16 September 2009 (in French).
^ "Human rights abuse suspect Pierre Oba pulls out of Perth conference", WAtoday, August 30, 2013.