The father of Vincent Kompany the captain of Manchester City and a star of the Belgian national football team, has been elected as Belgium’s first black mayor, in what has been described as a “historic” moment for the country.
The election of Pierre Kompany, 71, a mechanical engineer born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as the country’s first sub-Saharan-born bourgmestre was celebrated by his son in a video message in which he spoke three languages.
Kompany, 32, who was born in the Brussels suburb of Uccle, and his younger brother, François, who is also a professional footballer in the Belgian leagues, spoke of their pride in French, Dutch and English in the clip. “Just for the guys abroad: he is the first black mayor in Brussels,” he said. “It has never happened before. It’s historic. We are all happy. Congratulations to my dad.”
The footballer added in a short written statement: “History! We are so proud of you dad. Come from DR Congo as a refugee in 1975. Now you have won the trust of your commune by becoming the first black mayor elected in Belgium! It was long but it is progress. Congratulations!”
Pierre Kompany won 28.38% of the vote, up 5.77% from 2012, to become mayor of Ganshoren, a commune in the north-west of Brussels. Following his victory, the new mayor said he would focus on cleaning up the environment in his commune.
He said: “We worked hard during this campaign, but I did not think it would be enough to become mayor. We have addressed people from all races and communities. That is why our score is so high.”
Kompany, who is already a local councillor and an MP in the Brussels parliament, added that he wanted an “intergenerational community in which young people and the elderly go hand in hand with each other”.
“This mayoralty is proof that people appreciate what I do,” he added.