Sassou Nguesso regained power at the end of the June–October 1997 civil war and appointed Okemba as a Special Adviser to the President in late 1997. Okemba, who was a nephew of Sassou Nguesso, was viewed in the late 1990s as the leader of the clan of close family members surrounding Sassou Nguesso, which competed for high-level influence with other clans belonging to Sassou Nguesso's Mbochi ethnic group.