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    Home » AFRINIC elections 2025: ICANN is ‘inappropriate’, ‘unreasonable’ and ‘irresponsible’
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    AFRINIC

    AFRINIC elections 2025: ICANN is ‘inappropriate’, ‘unreasonable’ and ‘irresponsible’

    By James DurstonJune 19, 2025Updated:July 16, 2025No Comments4 Mins Read
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    • The Supreme Court of Mauritius rejected ICANN’s motion to reconstitute AFRINIC’s Nominating Committee and delay the 2025 elections, calling ICANN’s intervention “inappropriate,” “unreasonable,” and beyond its jurisdiction.
    • The court emphasized the urgency of holding elections to establish a proper AFRINIC board, overturning delays and allowing e-voting and in-person voting to proceed as scheduled from June 16-23.

    ICANN’s request to reconstitute the Nominating Committee in the run up to the AFRINIC elections has been denied by the Supreme Court of Mauritius.

    In documented minutes seen by BTW Media, the court stated: “Notwithstanding the fact that the applicant has no locus standi to enter such an application before this Court … in relation to the immediate reconstitution of the Nomination Committee … I find that it is inappropriate of the applicant and in so insisting, this will go against the objective of having a board constituted at AFRINIC and ICANN will not be acting reasonably and responsibly.”

    This ruling suggests not only that ICANN is attempting to interfere in the AFRINIC elections unreasonably and inappropriately, but that it does not have the legal jurisdiction to do so. The phrase ‘no locus standi’ means the court does not recognise ICANN as having enough connection to the events at hand to intervene.

    Despite this, ICANN’s involvement in Africa’s internet community has been ramping up. CEO and President Kurt Lindqvist will be attending AI for Africa in July, and currently ICANN is a the SIT Africa Forum in Marrakech, Morocco.

    ICANN interference in AFRINIC election

    ICANN had put in a motion to reconstitute the NomCom after raising concerns that the appearance of a company involved in litigation against AFRINIC as a registered member of AFRINIC was ‘concerning’.

    Read more: ICANN’s role in AFRINIC elections faces scrutiny, claims of interference

    But AFRINIC later corrected this registration, informing its resource members that the registration of Cloud Innovation Ltd as a registered member of AFRINIC was an error.  

    John Jeffrey, General Counsel & Secretary at ICANN, confirmed this with a post on LinkedIn, saying: “Earlier today, ICANN successfully obtained a ruling before the Supreme Court of Mauritius (Bankruptcy Division) ordering the Receiver of AFRINIC to issue a communique to all resource members that the inclusion of Cloud Innovation Ltd as a registered member was erroneous. The Court indicated that Cloud Innovation Ltd is simply a resource member.”

    However, his and ICANN’s claim that “ICANN successfully obtained a ruling” has also been contested by AFRINIC, which stated in a comment: “We also take note that the General Counsel of ICANN has recently wrongly reported that ICANN has successfully obtained a ruling – this does not reflect the reality of court proceedings today…”

    The Mauritius Supreme Court stated: “…this can no longer be a sufficient and adequate reason to hold back an election and restart the whole process regarding the organisation and holding of the election of the board members of AFRINIC.

    “AFRINIC has been operating in a vacuum without a board duly constituted and this state of affairs cannot perpetuate and can only be to the detriment of its members and the company.

    “I therefore find that the order sought will go against the spirit and fundamentals of the holding of an election process to constitute the board of AfriNIC.”

    Read more: 8 men hoping to lead AFRINIC into the future

    No more delay

    In addition, a delay to the elections has also been overturned, after the Tanzanian Internet Service Providers Association (TISPA) sought an interim order to delay the poll due to concerns with voting rights.

    The Mauritius Supreme Court set aside the interim order that paused the election to allow e-voting to start on time (June 16-23) and in-person voting to go ahead as planned on June 23.

    Afrinic cloud innovation ICANN
    James Durston

    James Durston is the Editor-in-Chief for Blue Tech Wave, and a former editor and journalist for some of the world's biggest international media organisations.

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