Cissokho was born at Bakel. His father worked as a blacksmith.[3] The young Cissokho became a school teacher. He finished his secondary education in 1949. He worked in the countryside, later beginning to teach in Kaolack and Dakar.[3]
The 1962 party executive committee meeting held in Bamako confirmed Cissokho as the deputy general secretary of the Central Committee.[1][6][7] In 1967 an extraordinary conference placed Cissokho at the helm of a provisional committee to lead the party. Within the party Cissokho represented a hard-line, pro-Soviet Marxist-Leninist position.[2][3]
The first party congress, held illegally in Senegal in 1972, confirmed the expulsion of the PAI general secretary Majhmoud Diop and elected Cissokho as party general secretary.[1][6][7][8] Cissokho played an important role in organizing the first conference of Communist and Workers' Parties of Tropical and Southern Africa.[2]
Cissokho spent two decades as leader of the underground party. In 1981 PIT was legalized and Cissokho led the efforts for the formation of an anti-imperialist united front. He was elected party chairman at the second PIT congress, held in 1984.[1]
