Labour Councillors for Telegraph Hill Ward

Lewisham’s seventh Young Mayor, Kieza Silveira de Sousa, officially took office on Monday 24 January after an inauguration ceremony held at Lewisham Town Hall.   Seventeen year-old Kieza, from Downham, took over from Jacob Sakil with the signing of the Declaration of Acceptance of Office at a meeting of the full Council.  

Kieza said: “I feel ready for this role, and am looking forward to continuing the great work of my predecessors. I want to be an inspiration to other young people in Lewisham; a lot of them have put their faith in me, and I won’t let them down.”  

Lewisham’s new Deputy Young Mayor, 15 year-old Jawan Sakil, from New Cross, was also inaugurated on Monday and will support Kieza in representing young people in Lewisham.  

Mayor of Lewisham, Sir Steve Bullock, congratulated Jacob Sakil, the outgoing young mayor, for his achievements during his year in office and expressed his belief that Kieza would also do an excellent job.  

Sir Steve said: “I am constantly amazed by the exceptionally high calibre of our young mayors and deputy young mayors. It demonstrates the immense talent that exists among the young people in Lewisham. 

“Jacob has been a very active young mayor and I know Kieza will follow in the same vein. I look forward to working with him and his deputy Jawan over the coming year.” 

As Jacob handed over office to Kieza, he said: “They say a creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others. That quote sums up a young man who deserves to be and is now the Young Mayor, Kieza. I know that he and Jawan will do even better than me and Lola.”  

Kieza will now spend the next 12 months representing and working with the young people of Lewisham, as well as the Council and its partners, to influence services and develop proposals to better meet the needs of young people in the borough.  

Telegraph Hill Ward Councillors would like to thank Jacob, a resident of our ward for his achievements over the last 12 months.

Congratulation to Kieza Silveira De Sousa,17 from New Cross, who received a total of 1441 first and second preference votes in the recent Young Mayor election. In second place, becoming the Deputy Young Mayor was Jawan Sakil,14, from Sedgehill School. The election saw 9,363 youngsters voting representing a turnout of 49.27% per cent of the borough's secondary school students. Cllr Joan Millbank who attended the event on behalf of Telegraph Hill ward councillors said, "It was fantastic to see the town hall chamber filled to capacity with young Lewisham residents clapping and cheering other young people who put themselves forward for election."