AF* Open Forum Minutes
Prof Nii Quaynor reported on the establishment, history and purpose of AFRINIC as the regional body, constituted as a section 21 (not for profit) legal entity in 1997 in South Africa, that is responsible for, inter alia, assigning IP addresses to resource members. For the first decade, AFRINIC focused on building the foundation for the Internet in Africa but challenges pertaining to Board legitimacy and credibility; member conflicts and disagreements; and ongoing litigation (almost 55 pending cases) have destabilized the organisation to the point where it has now been placed under receivership in terms of Mauritian company/insolvency laws.
AFRINIC Government Working Group shared their resolution on supporting the process of stabilizing AFRINIC so that AFRINIC could be instrumental in driving the African digitization agenda and dedicate its efforts to supporting internet access, affordability and security issues on the Continent.
Action Item/s:
African community to revisit the purpose for which AFRINIC was created, i.e., supporting the development of Internet networks in Africa through collaboration and cooperation; and prioritise restoration of AFRINIC’s governance and operational efficiencies to create trust, resilience and more significantly resolve all pending litigation in the best interest of AFRINIC.
AFRINIC Litigation (Receivership and Board Elections)
Dr Andile Ngcaba emphasized the need to allow the court processes to continue unimpeded to maintain the integrity and fairness of these proceedings which were beyond the control of AFRINIC’s members.
Mr Lucky Masilela reported that the Receiver addressed the AIS’23 meeting and assured the community that the reconstitution of the AFRINIC Board would take place within the next two to three months in terms of open and transparent election processes.
Ms Fiona Asonga appealed to the African community to approach the reconstitution of AFRINIC in a reconciliatory manner, driven by values such as trust, mutual respect, integrity, transparency, and a commitment not to pursue self-interest objectives. Adherence to good governance principles should be the norm rather than the exception during and post the election process so that the Board and its operational teams can achieve AFRINIC’s objectives within an open and accountable governance framework.
Mr John Crain (ICANN SVP Technology) confirmed that ICANN has appointed him as an expert advisor to monitor the Receiver’s mandate in rebuilding a decapitated AFRINIC to serve the purpose that it was designed for and that it was absolutely critical for the Receiver to be surrounded by people that had the factual knowledge and necessary governance and other expertise to support the Receiver in rebuilding AFRINIC to serve its members’ needs. Fiona Asonga reported on alleged irregularities associated with previous elections and called on the African community to pay close attention to the anticipated election process (eligibility criteria, nomination, and appointment process) to mitigate against the recurrence of such irregularities.
Action Item/s:
Prof Quaynor to convene a meeting post the AIS’23 meeting to nominate and appoint a similar Observer from amongst the Council of Elders (best placed in terms of holding extensive institutional knowledge) or the African community to support the Receiver in his mandate to rebuild AFRINIC.
AFRINIC Members to observe and support the Receiver’s efforts in reconstituting AFRINIC to make it fit for the purpose for which it was established, including but not limited to, scrutinizing the eligibility criteria and other election processes for appointments to the Board. Additional guiding principles, included but was not limited to, ensuring that board appointees are recruited from within the membership, based on merit; and the caliber of potential appointees must be beyond reproach.
Proposal to Create Forum for Commercial Representatives outside of AFRINIC Framework
Dr Andile Ngcaba and Fiona Asonga reported that they collectively represent a number of commercial entities that have business models that are highly dependent on allocation and support of IP addresses so any disruption at AFRINIC would have a ripple effect on their businesses. As part of their risk mitigation obligations, both supported the establishment of a separate forum that would represent these commercial entities’ interests in dealing with AFRINIC matters. The exact form, composition, funding etc. of this separate forum as well as the manner of dialogue with AFRINIC still needed to be determined.
Action Item/s:
Dr Ngcaba undertook to drive establishment of this separate forum on the understanding that there were no legal impediments preventing commercial entities from pursuing this course of action as part of their risk mitigation measures.
Some other significant interventions:
Mark Elkins (22:18) expresses his confusion about how having a full board and CEO was going to help as it won’t take away the legal problems with Cloud Innovation.
Paul Hjul (27:40) wonders if anyone on the panel or in the room is aware of the appeal put forward against the Receivership. He intimated that Instead of letting the Receiver do his job which should lead us to a democratic and sensible way of addressing the problem and bring us to general member meeting and elections, some individuals decided to put a despicable appeal against the receiver. How to we solve the problem? by starting with a good foundation and follow the rules of laws.
He further said, in response to a question from the moderator, that regarding the appeal, he got some information pending verification, that Benjamin Eshun, who is not supposed to be a Board Member beyond the 18 of September is involved. He alleged that Ben Eshun has been in Mauritius and got the support of Attorney with AFRINIC staff involvement to appeal.
Abdulkarim Oloyede (39:04) said it is important for us to understand some backgrounds. When the whole problem started, there were two issues. One of the issues was that somebody or group of people stealing IP addresses from AFRINIC. We did not go after the known thief. The person involved is someone he trusted and worked with as PDP co-chair, only to discover that he was a thief. He claimed that when the problem started, some of them warned and asked for caution. The response was “Go to court”. Eventually, the court cases stated and we saw arrogance. Nobody was willing to negotiate. He concluded by asking if we are looking for the way forward, shall it be with the same leadership that started AFRINIC 25/30 years ago? AFRINIC needs fresh ideas.
Silvio Almada (43:50) says he was part of the 1st AFRINIC board. He came back to the Board because Mr. Mark Elkins resigned and there was a need for the Board to remain functional. People should join the Board to serve the community and not push forward their personal plans. He decided to file an appeal to the Mauritius court to make the Board functional, but he believes with the current decision taken by the court, we will be able to reconstruct the Board and the organization. We shall now look at how to select the good people to join and serve.
Mark Elkins (1:34:28) This whole thing started because someone decided that Lu Heng has too much IP addresses and want to claw it back. He understood that they asked him to justify the usage as they may change, and he laughed them off. They went back and started clawing them back. This infuriated Lu and therefore the court cases started. If this process could be reverted in totally, there won’t be any court cases, and everyone could carry on normal. It is all IPv4, and they don’t need them as we can use IPv6. There is an interim solution to Inter-RIR transfer which could allow some IPv4 addresses to be transferred in and out of the region. What a new Board could do is to “rubber stamp” that policy and put it in effect, which could allow Lu Heng to transfer his IPv4 address out of the region and stop fighting us.
Paul Hjul (1:39:41). What can we do to assist the Receiver? If Council of Elders or any sort of group of people from this community rather than a legal entity, wants to engage the Receiver in the proper manner, they need to brief a legal expert in Mauritius to observe the procedure to engage the Receiver to receive inputs from the community in writing, to evaluate the proceedings to report back honestly to the community. If you want things to resolved properly, yes, making sure resources are managed correctly could reduce risks of litigation but it does not solve the fact that from the last 10 years, we have been undermining the right of resources members. We should move pass the point where when the Board does something unlawful which creates litigation, the Board’s attitude would attract further litigations. The only way to have a functioning AFRINIC the organization respectful of courts and take proper legal and lawful actions. Any regulatory body in the world will have time-to-time litigation.
Alan Barrett (1:43:58) there are calls for companies that are operating in AFRICA to continue to be able to do business, by getting the resources they need. That is very important, but he was a bit confused about the problem we are trying to address, as he understood that Dr Andile talking about setting up another organization which is unclear to him because we heard on Tuesday from the official Receiver and Paul Wilson from APNIC, that AFRINIC staff are still allocating resources, business as usual.
He does agree that risks must be mitigated and managed properly, but still does not see the need to set up another organization. They way to solve the AFRINIC’s problem is to make sure elections take place and good people are elected.
Abdulkarim Oloyede (1:51:48) He got disappointed with AFRINIC leadership at the time where a board member who was convinced of corruption and sacked from his organization was supported to remain on the Board. With this whole thing, there was two issues. The one of the known thief, the AFRINIC staff who stole IP addresses. People did not care or did nothing about it even though it was publicly known, but they decided to go after Cloud Innovation which got its IP addresses legally. The technical services are not affecting AFRINIC with the ongoing situation. The way to solve the problem is to make sure people we elect to sit on AFRINIC Board are capable and do not just rely on AFRINIC to cover their expenses to come to meetings…
Prof Nii Quaynor (2:05:07) Said he proposed an Af* Open Forum and grateful that the community came to engage actively throughout. We always follow rules of laws in all jurisdictions, the best we can. We also understand that it also includes registration service agreement and for the commitment we made to the larger community for the Internet development, we cannot back off from that.
Another comment of Interest. Prof Quaynor said he never told anybody that he is old. He is not on the board. He left the board in 2005. He advised that People should be careful not to be angered to kill our fathers so as to come and sit on top of the world. We need all of us, all the experiences. It may seem easy. Let not think anyone wants to remain in AFRINIC forever, but we want AFRINIC to succeed and on that we may not compromise
Musa Stephen HONLUE- AFRINIC STAFF (2:11:51) Speaking in his personal capacity. Even though there is a perception that the services are not affected, it is getting frustrating to the 40 staff who have been struggling without Board and CEO to keep the system up and running. He calls upon the community to find a solution to this problem which has lasted too long.
Recording of the forum: