Pierre Toura Gaba

Who was Pierre Toura Gaba?

Pierre Toura Gaba was a Chadian politician and diplomat. He was born on December 28, 1920 at Maibyan, near Moissala, in the prefecture of Moyen-Chari in southern Chad. He served as a diplomat at Brazzaville and worked for a long time as a teacher in places like Ati, Abéché, Bongor and Fort-Archambault.

When Chad was still a French colony, a Representative Council to which some of the African inhabitants could vote was instituted. Toura entered politics and became a member of this council from 1946 to 1956. A year later, he founded the Chadian Progressive Party with Gabriel Lisette, in which Toura became secretary-general and Lisette president. The 1956 reforms greatly boosted the suffrage strengthening the PPT, which triumphed in the first democratic elections. Toura was among the PPT representatives elected and became Minister of Agriculture in the first black government led by Lisette in 1958. But in February, Lisette lost his position and a month later Toura lost his office in the party to François Tombalbaye who later in the same month, when Lisette renounced, became the new head of the government. This position was strengthened by the following elections in May, which were triumphantly won by the PPT. A new government was formed headed by Tombalbaye and with Toura was Minister of Public Works.