His name is Oscar Nkezabera. At 46 years old, he has entered in Swiss History after becoming the first Black President of the Council of the District of Moudon, in the Swiss Canton of Vaud.

Arrived in Switzerland at 22 years old through a Catholic organization mission, Oscar Nkezabera is a devout Catholic, who became naturalized a Swiss Citizen  through marriage. A Computer Scientist,  he is the father of four kids.

Elected to the district council in 2004 in mid term, he was overwhelmingly reelected in 2005 and has been on the Administration and Finances Committee since then.

According to other Moudon council members, Oscar Nkezabera is viewed as a competent and serious Council member and a consensus builder who brings African and Catholic  wisdom on the Council.

“I am very honored. I am the one who has crossed the bridge and connected to others. Look at me. I can never hide my foreign origins,” said Mr. Nkezabera after his election as President, before adding: “I am a man of dialogue and transparency.  However, I do not feel being a spokesperson of large political causes or multicultural agenda. Politically, I like acting at  the local level. That is where there so much work to do. It is my nature, I am at the side of the weak and the underprivileged.”  By the weak and the underprivileged Mr. Nkezabera says he will focus of the unemployed youth, minorities, retired senior citizens, and low income citizens.

On the council, he will have another African Swiss, Mr. Diiriye Khayre Yusuf,  originally from Somalia.

“It is wonderful. It shows how successful the integration policies in the Canton of Vaud have been,” says Nicole Grin, the Secretary General of the Association of the Districts (Communes) of Vaud.

©2010 AfroAmerica Network.