Background
Ambroise Noumazalaye was born in September 23, 1933, in Brazzaville, although his family are from the north.
Ambroise Noumazalaye was born in September 23, 1933, in Brazzaville, although his family are from the north.
Educated in Brazzaville and at Toulouse, where he obtained a degree in mathematics.
Emerging to prominence in the wake of the revolution of 1963, he helped design the structures of the new party, the National Movement of the Revolution, and in July 1964 he was elected first secretary of the party.
His reputation as a hard-working backroom boy, and his influence in the party, led to his appointment as Prime Minister in succession to Lissouba in April 1966, when he tended to follow the policies of Massemba-Debat until he was dropped early in 1968. The most dramatic event of his Premiership was when he and his government took refuge in the sports stadium in the army mutiny of June 1966. When Ngouabi revolted in 1968 and took over first the Council of the Revolution and then the Presidency, Noumazalay initially made a comeback, first as a Minister (until July 1969) then in the party, but his relationship with Ngouabi was never smooth. In December 1971 he lost his party post and, in February 1972, he was arrested and gaoled for 20 years for plotting against the state.
One of the high-flyers of the Congolese revolution, he seems more at ease as a party organiser, than he was in his 18 months as Premier. Deeply involved in Brazzaville political intrigue, his backing was an important element in gaining revolutionary respectability for Ngouabi. He and Emest-Claude Ndalla have been among the most hard-nosed exponents of Marxism and revolution, and their eclipse from party counsels in December 1971 and subsequent imprisonment damaged the regime’s revolutionary credibility.
In 1968, Noumazalaye was a member of the National Council of the Revolution (CNR) as Secretary in charge of organization, but he was excluded from the CNR in December 1968.
