The ceremony will take place this Friday, January 29, at 9:00 am, on the soccer field in that rural sector of Popayán.
As a tribute to rurality, the environment, the water resource, the Piedras River, birdwatching, and ecological tourism, the elected mayor, Juan Carlos Muñoz Bravo, chose that natural setting for his possession, which breaks with the tradition of the local leaders to take office in the Francisco José de Caldas park.
Muñoz Bravo, 54 years old, is a lawyer, specialist in commercial law and drug businessman, he has been manager of Droguerías Alianza de Occidente; In the elections of October 29, 2023, he managed to win as the new mayor of Popayán, with 36,581 votes. The endorsement was obtained through signatures, a total of 110,000 and was registered by the Alianza por Popayán movement.
The new mayor comes from a family from Nariño, he is the youngest of 10 siblings, he started working at a very young age, he set up a small pharmacy and two decades later he already had several drugstores in Popayán and Valle del Cauca, which today is known as the DAO Group.
The incoming president, who will begin his term as of January 1, 2024, has been very secretive regarding the formation of his cabinet, some names are informally known. Former deputy Felipe Acosta would be the new Secretary of Education; Alba Nelly Alzate, secretary of La Mujer; John Diego Parra Tobar, manager of the Aqueduct; Edwin Meneses, Secretary of Infrastructure; Yasmín Hurtado Ordóñez, would be ratified as Secretary of Planning; Secretary of Health, Gerardo Zúñiga; Secretary of Agro-Environmental Development and Economic Development of Popayán (DAFE), Adriana Campo.
Several challenges await the new mayor, which are the backbone of the planning and development of Popayán in general, such as the Territorial Planning Plan (POT) and the Special Plan for Management and Protection of the Historic Sector (PEMP), the creation of the managing entity, which looks after the heritage of the city, plans in the face of which the López Castrillón administration was ineffective, hence Popayán has no north in terms of its planning, nor vision of the city and the historical sector is completely depressed .
If Juan Carlos Muñoz Bravo wants to bet, as he has said, on turning Popayán into a Special District of Culture and Tourism, he must necessarily review and update those planning instruments, with expert advice, which there are in the city and willing to collaborate with no interest other than making Popayán an organized city, with quality of life, rescuing the historical sector, currently in ruins, in the hands of the trade of everything for $1,000 or $5,000, even merchandise whose origin is unknown. and without the demanding DIAN investigating.
It is expected, then, an active municipal administration that complies with its government plan and integrates an ideal cabinet for the good of the city and its people.