ISS colleagues Antony Otieno Ong’ayo and Kees Biekart organized workshops on Friday evening 28 September in Rotterdam at the Science Meets City event. The workshops focused on the question 'How do Africans become part of the Municipal Council?'
Two Ubuntu Connect Front candidates discussed their experiences with the participants with diverse backgrounds.
The main issue emerging was why not a single African candidate was elected in the March 2018 municipal elections in Rotterdam, despite the fact that one out of six inhabitants of the city is of African descent. One of the conclusions was that more exposure is needed for these newly established migrant-based political parties, what they stand for and the difference that they make in the political landscape at the local level.
Equally, it was observed that migrant-based parties are not just about identity politics, but rather that they play an important role in terms of representing silent voices in the context of diversity in the municipality. This is not only important for minority groups, but also relevant for politicians and decision makers, to enable them to listen to the diverse experiences of the people that constitute the current demographic reality of cities and municipalities such as Rotterdam.