The mayor of Ganshoren resigned on Wednesday, as provided for in the agreement signed the day after the 2018 municipal elections. His alderman, Jean-Paul Van Laethem, will resume his place.
His arrival at the head of the commune had been widely publicized at the time. It has often been said and repeated, Pierre Kompany was the first black mayor of Belgium. The hardest thing for him was not to make a name, but rather a first name: he is Vincent’s father, trainer and former Belgian footballer of international renown.
MBut Pierre Kompany is also the one who, already in Mobutu’s Zaire, stood out by organizing student demonstrations. To the point of being forced to flee his country in 1975. And we can’t really say that Belgium welcomed him with open arms: he remained undocumented for 7 years, with an order to leave the country. He hung on, and his charisma did the rest. This is how in the municipal elections of 2018, Pierre Kompany won the palm of the votes of preference.