He was the estranged son of the sultan of Baguirmi and the charismatic leader of the Tijaniyyah Islamic brotherhood in Chad.
Koulamallah campaigned in different times and places as a member of the Baguirmi nobility, a radical socialist leader, or a militant Muslim fundamentalist.
Defeated in the 1957 elections for the Territorial Assembly, he remained in the opposition until he allied himself in 1959 with Gontchomé Sahoulba forming the Chadian Popular Movement (Mouvement Populaire Tchadien or MPT), which following a motion of no confidence presented on 11 February 1959, was instrumental in causing the downfall of Gabriel Lisette and the PPT government.
The first day he brought all the ministers, Muslims or non-Muslims, to the mosque to pray thanks; and established Arabic would be the working language of the government.
Following this he was again relegated to the opposition, while the PPT, now led by François Tombalbaye, who became the first president of independent Chad on 11 August 1960.