Paul-Marie Yembit was a vice president

Vice president

A vice president is an officer in government or business who is below a president in rank. The name comes from the Latin vice meaning 'in place of'. In some countries, the vice president is called the deputy president...

 of Gabon

Gabon

Gabon , officially the Gabonese Republic is a state in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean is to the west...

 under Léon M'ba

Léon M'ba

Gabriel Léon M'ba was the first Prime Minister and President of Gabon. A member of the Fang ethnic group, M'ba was born into a relatively privileged village family. After studying at a seminary, he held a number of small jobs before entering the colonial administration as a customs agent...

.

A member of the Bapounou

Bapounou

The Punu, or Bapunu , are one of the four major peoples of Gabon, inhabiting interior mountain and grassland areas in the southwest of the country, around the upper N'Gounié and Nyanga Rivers. Bapunu also live in the Divenie, Kibangou, and Mossendjo districts of the Republic of the Congo...

 people, he was born at Moussambou and educated in local Catholic schools, then at the public secondary school of Lambaréné

Lambaréné

Lambaréné is the capital of the political district Moyen-Ogooué in Gabon. The city counts 24,000 inhabitants and is located 75 kilometres south of the equator....

. He was a businessman in Mouila

Mouila

Mouila is the capital of the Ngounié region of Gabon. It lies on the River Ngounié and the N1 road and has a population of about 20,000 people. Its main sight is the Lac Bleu, a lake known for its bright blue water....

 from 1943 to 1952, then was elected to the Territorial Assembly, representing N'Gounié province. In March 1957, he was reelected to the Legislative Assembly

Legislative Assembly

Legislative Assembly is the name given in some countries to either a legislature, or to one of its branch.The name is used by a number of member-states of the Commonwealth of Nations, as well as a number of Latin American countries....

. A member of the Gabonese Democratic Bloc, he also became the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock in March 1957, later holding ministerial posts until becoming vice president in February 1961. M'ba replaced Yembit with Omar Bongo

Omar Bongo

El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba , born as Albert-Bernard Bongo, was a Gabonese politician who was President of Gabon for 42 years from 1967 until his death in office in 2009....

in November 1966, and had elections held the following year to confirm Bongo's position.