Acting Mayor of Durres Emirjana Sako has fired her deputy Arber Braho after the latter alleged that the current and former mayor, Vangjush Dako, have been colluding in appropriating public money.
Braho, who was appointed by Dako 8 years ago, accused the current mayor of being a puppet in the hands of the former mayor, and of rigging all public procurement contracts in the municipality to Dako’s benefit.
Former Mayor Vangjush Dako was one of the closest collaborators of Prime Minister Edi Rama, until the US secretary of State barred him and his family from entering the country due to “involvement in significant corruption”.
He also appears in the Albanian Electiongate tapes in conversations with notorious criminals, which the opposition claims show his involvement in rigging the elections. However, prosecutors filed no charges against Dako, while 11 low-ranking officials were convicted for rigging 53 ballot papers.
Braho, the deputy mayor, has announced his intention to run for mayor in the upcoming partial local elections, which include Durres.
