Man City's Star, Vincent Kompany's Father Becomes 1st Black Mayor In Belgium - CNN

Posted by Odinaka on Mon 15th Oct, 2018 - tori.ng

The father of Vincent Kompany, the captain of Manchester City, has been elected as Belgium's first black mayor, in what has been described as a historic moment for the country.

Vincent Kompany and Father, Pierre

Manchester City captain, Vincent Kompany has congratulated his father on becoming the first black elected mayor in Belgium.

The 71-year-old Pierre Kompany, who arrived in Belgium as refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1975, won 28.38% of the vote to top the polls in the municipality of Ganshoren, in north-west Brussels.

Belgian international Vincent celebrated the historic appointment with a video on Instagram alongside his brother Francois, who plays for Belgian side KSV Roeselare.

"He is the first black mayor in Brussels," Kompany said. "It has never happened before. It's historic. We are all happy. Congratulations to my dad."

The video was accompanied by a short caption: "History! We are so proud of you dad. Came over from the DR Congo, as a refugee, in 1975!"

"Now gained the trust of your local community becoming the first ever black elected mayor in Belgium! It was long overdue but it's progress. Massive congrats!"

Following his arrival in Belgium, Mr Kompany established a successful career as a mechanical engineer before stepping into politics.

He is already an existing counselor and MP in the Brussels parliament.

After the victory, Mr Kompany said he wanted "an intergenerational community in which young people and the elderly go hand in hand with each other."

History of politics

His son, Vincent, has been vocal about his country's politics in the past. Following the 2015 Paris attacks, which were linked back to Brussels, Kompany was critical of the city's politicians.

"Politically, a lot of mistakes have happened over the years," Kompany told CNN.

"The way the entire city is structured is favorable for a lot of people to fall out of the system. We have a city divided into 19 boroughs, with 19 mayors.

"I only used to see politicians in our neighborhoods once every six years when they needed to come for votes.

"Then and now something would pop up out of the ground and somebody cut a red ribbon to say that we've done this for the community.

"But I have really struggled to see a real concern, a genuine desire to be a part of making those neighborhoods."

Only last week he tweeted a picture highlighting the lack of diversity in the Belgium government.

"Still very little multiculturality in our dear government. This also reflects a non-existent diversity at all levels of power in Belgium," he wrote.