The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) got a bloody nose in the Mauritian Supreme Court on Thursday following an attempt to delay the election of a new Afrinic board.
The African Network Information Centre (Afrinic) is the Regional Internet Registry for the continent and Indian Ocean region.
Afrinic has been without a board or CEO since 2023 and was placed in receivership as part of an attempt to revive the organisation.
Icann is the apex authority on matters of global Internet governance. It does not step into regional disputes unless it believes something drastic is amiss.
It brought a court application against the receiver appointed to reconstitute Afrinic’s board through a special election with a list of demands because it is concerned about irregularities in the process.
In simple language, Icann was concerned about the election being rigged in favour of specific vested interests, although it was always careful to use words like “transparency” and “fairness”.
While the court rejected Icann’s request that would delay the election, namely immediately reconstituting the nominations committee, it did rule in the organisation’s favour on two issues.
The court noted that the election was already underway. Electronic voting opened on Wednesday, 18 June and will run until Monday, 23 June 2025.
The court ordered Afrinic, and by extension its official receiver, to disclose that Cloud Innovation was secretly added to the list of registered members on its official company records.
Cloud Innovation is a Seychelles-based IP broker currently locked in an extensive legal battle with Afrinic.
Legal action brought by Cloud Innovation and its allies prevented Afrinic from holding an election two years ago, which is why it is currently without a board or CEO.
In April, Cloud Innovation was quietly added as a “registered member” in Afrinic’s official documents lodged with the Mauritian Corporate and Business Registration Department (CBRD).
Previously, only elected directors of the board appeared in this part of Afrinic’s company registration documents.
When MyBroadband asked Cloud Innovation about the amendment, it assured that it was merely a legal technicality. However, the real reason the company appeared on the CBRD listing remains unknown.
The court noted that the official receiver, Gowtamsingh Dabee, has taken steps to ensure that Cloud Innovation was removed from the records.
In addition to ordering disclosure about the CBRD record situation, the court also ordered the receiver to explain how the nominations committee was set up in the spirit of Afrinic’s bylaws.
Dabee appointed barristers from the UK as the nominations committee, which produced a slate of 41 candidates from which Afrinic members could select the next board of directors.
The judge, Mary Jane Lau Yuk Poon, stated that although Icann no locus standi to enter its application, the court had regard for its objective to ensure there was a fair and free election.
However, the judge said she found Icann’s insistence on the immediate reconstitution of the nominations committee inappropriate.
“This will go against the objective of having a board constituted at Afrinic, and Icann will not be acting reasonably and responsibly,” she said.
Afrinic must issue a communique regarding its CBRD records and the nominations committee by tomorrow, Friday, 20 June 2025.