 Originally from Ngomezap in Centre Province, Owona was first elected as a municipal councillor in Douala in 1987.He was subsequently elected to the National Assembly in the 1988 parliamentary election as an RDPC candidate in Littoral Province, and he served in the National Assembly from 1988 to 1992; during that time, he was Rapporteur-General of the National Assembly's Finance Commission.At the time of the March 1992 parliamentary election, Owona said that the RDPC's problem "lies in winning by too great a margin; we would be taken for cheats."