- Prabha Chinien has served as Mauritius’ Registrar of Companies since 1989, overseeing the corporate status of AFRINIC.
- Her continued recognition of expired directors has drawn criticism amid calls for institutional accountability.
A Registrar shielding a failed registry
When the Prime Minister of Mauritius recently designated AFRINIC a declared company, he also enjoined the registrar of Companies to investigate the affairs of the company and produce a report.
So who is the Mauritian Registrar of Companies, and what is her task?
BTW Media has written about Prabha Divanandum Chinien before – in our special report that revealed how AFRINIC executives were the likely beneficiaries of a multi-million-dollar legal contract arranged by a company called C&A Law. One of the reasons this was possible was that the former executives who had long since seen their contracts expire, were still named as directors on the Company Register for AFRINIC. The person responsible for that register is the Registrar of Companies, Prabha Divanandum Chinien, and she is the wife of the Managing Partner at C&A Law, Goinsamy Chinien.
As the long-standing Registrar of Companies in Mauritius, Prabha Divanandum Chinien is responsible for overseeing the registration, compliance, and potential dissolution of all companies incorporated in the country. Appointed in 2005, she also heads the nation’s Insolvency Service, making her one of the most influential figures in determining the corporate fate of entities like AFRINIC—a registry now widely seen as having collapsed beyond repair.
Chinien’s office retains legal oversight over AFRINIC’s corporate status. Yet, despite multiple court rulings, mounting evidence of governance failure, and a formal petition to dissolve AFRINIC, she has so far refused to act.
Most importantly, the Registrar’s inaction has allowed several of AFRINIC’s expired directors to continue presenting themselves as official representatives of AFRINIC.
Also read: Did ICANN’s lawyer illegally visit AFRINIC when the Official Receiver was away?
Also read: EXPOSED: The letter that reveals who was really benefitting from AFRINIC’s lawsuits
Regulatory inaction threatens Africa’s digital future
Chinien’s failure to remove directors that have been recognised as expired by the Supreme Court, has become emblematic of the broader institutional rot surrounding AFRINIC. By allowing these errors and expired directors to continue to represent AFRINIC, Chinien is enabling a broken system to persist, shielding AFRINIC’s discredited leadership from scrutiny and delaying meaningful reform.
Cloud Innovation Ltd., AFRINIC’s third-largest member, has described this as a regulatory failure, insisting that the “failed registry” be wound up and replaced by a competent regional internet registry appointed by ICANN and the NRO. Chinien’s continued recognition of AFRINIC’s expired directors undermines that process and further entrenches a model of governance that has already proven unworkable.
As pressure mounts on ICANN to uphold its commitment to bottom-up internet governance without overreaching into Africa’s sovereignty, Chinien’s position remains critical. Whether through indecision or design, her role in protecting AFRINIC’s legal shell may ultimately determine the pace—and possibility—of restoring integrity to Africa’s IP address management.
