 In 1979 Lekoundzou was again elected to the PCT Political Bureau; at that point the body consisted of ten members, and he was assigned responsibility for planning and the economy.Lekoundzou was Minister of Finance from December 1983 until he was instead appointed as Minister of Rural Development on 21 August 1987; he held the latter post until he was replaced in the government named on 13 August 1989.Also in 1989, he was assigned responsibility for organization in the PCT Political Bureau and became the regime's second-ranking figure, under President Denis Sassou Nguesso.