Anambra son, becomes first black to win Cologne City Council election

By Maureen Ikpeama

 

 An Anambra- son, Dr  John Emeka Akude , from Abatete, Idemmili north local government area of Anambra State has become the first black man to  be  elected Councillor of the Cologne City Council (Stadtrat), Germany.

 

In the election held on Sunday 13 September, were millions voters went to the polls in towns and cities across North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state, to vote for Lord Mayors, Mayors, Councillors and the Integration Councils, Dr Akude , a Political Scientist made history.

 

Reacting to Akude’s victory, Rahab Njeri, the only other African-origin candidate who took part in the election in Cologne said though she was not elected but all African-descendant inhabitants of the city were winners with the victory of the Nigerian-born politician. Both ran on the platform of Klima Freunde (Friends of the Climate).

 

Other results that have been released show that several African candidates won elections into the Integration Council (Integrationsrat) in their cities and towns, including Kevin Uguru in Essen, Pastor Lumbu in Dortmund and Elizabeth Kaneza in Aachen.

 

Integration Council – in some cities also known as Ausländerrat or Ausländerbeirat (Foreigners’ Advisory Council) – is the official representative organ of the residents of foreign origin in a city, municipality and district.The main task of the Council is to represent the interests of the foreign-origin population and to advocate for integration and equality between foreign and German residents at local level.

 

Sunday’s election in North Rhine-Westphalia is seen as a test for next year’s federal elections. Exit polls suggest the CDU with 36.2% of the popular votes emerged the overall winners in the municipal elections, followed by SPD (23.7%) and Greens (19.1%)