LOS ANGELES, CA - The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) sent a formal notice to Mr. Gowtamsingh Dabee, the Court Appointed Receiver over the African Network Information Centre (AFRINIC). ICANN calls for immediate action to ensure transparency and fairness in AFRINIC’s election process for its Board of Directors, a press release by the Corporation stated.

ICANN’s concerns reflect those of many in the AFRINIC community, and focus on two key issues:

1. The unique registration of a company as a member of AFRINIC in the Mauritius Corporate and Business Registration Department (CBRD) despite clear inconsistencies with AFRINIC's governance documents and past practices. AFRINIC has over 2,000 resource members, and all of them should have been afforded the same treatment in advance of accepting nominations.

2. The appointment of two members to the Nomination Committee who had previously issued an opinion supporting the registration of the same company as a member of AFRINIC.
ICANN is entrusted with ensuring the stable and secure operation of the Internet’s unique identifier systems and is responsible for the global coordination of the allocation and assignment of numbering resources. ICANN has a vested interest and role in assuring AFRINIC’s return to full operations in alignment with its community-developed policies, and in seeing AFRINIC’s governance issues stabilized. 

ICANN is requesting that the Receiver take immediate steps to reassure AFRINIC’s members and its community that the election process is fair, including the nomination period and electronic voting registration. Specifically, ICANN is demanding of the Receiver:

1. Providing AFRINIC members with complete transparency in matters related to registration of members in the CBRD record.

2. Immediate reconstitution of the Nomination Committee for its remaining tasks.

3. Public documentation and assessment of remedial steps being taken to comprehensively assess and alleviate the adverse impacts caused on the election. 

ICANN is committed to a swift, fair, and transparent election process – one that is free from any imbalance, undue pressure, or perception of impropriety to help restore stability and trust to AFRINIC’s governance.
ICANN's mission is to help ensure a stable, secure, and unified global Internet. To reach another person on the Internet, you need to type an address – a name or a number – into your computer or other device. That address must be unique so computers know where to find each other. ICANN helps coordinate and support these unique identifiers across the world. ICANN was formed in 1998 as a nonprofit public benefit corporation with a community of participants from all over the world.