ICANN fumes as AFRINIC offers no explanation for annulled election
(2025/07/11)
- Reference: 1752261419
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/07/11/afrinic_election_annulled_why/
- Source link:
The receiver of the African Network Information Center (AFRINIC) has not explained why he chose to annul its recent election, prompting ICANN to again warn that it may need to step in, and longtime AFRINIC litigant Cloud Innovation to call for the body to be wound up.
AFRINIC is one of the world’s five regional internet registries (RIRs) and manages IP addresses and autonomous system numbers for 54 countries in Africa and the Indian Ocean. The organization has a long history of dysfunction and has operated without a board since 2022, a situation many in the internet governance community hoped would change after a court-appointed receiver arranged elections that ran for a week online, plus a day of in-person voting on June 23.
That vote was instead [1]suspended, then annulled after AFRINIC’s Nominations Committee [2]promised [PDF] to make inquiries into the vote and the receiver [3]mentioned "feedback and expressions of concern from several stakeholders regarding potential irregularities related to voter documentation."
[4]
AFRINIC has not detailed those investigations, concerns or irregularities, or responded to The Register ’s requests for information.
[5]
[6]
South Africa’s Internet Service Providers' Association (ISPA) told The Register that during in-person voting on June 23, "it became apparent that one party claimed to hold Powers of Attorney to represent nearly half of all AFRINIC resource holders. Alarmingly, evidence emerged that at least some of the Powers of Attorney were fraudulent, as one Mauritius-based AFRINIC member attempted to vote in person, only to find that there was someone else claiming to hold a Power of Attorney already voting on their behalf."
In a [7]LinkedIn post , ISPA made two further allegations:
"A duly authorised representative of a resource holder attempting to vote, only to be informed that another person had already submitted a vote on their behalf thanks to a Power of Attorney, which that resource holder had not provided to any third party."
"A representative of a resource holder, learning that a Power of Attorney had been submitted on their behalf, only to find that that particular Power of Attorney (the existence of which had already been recorded by AFRINIC staff) had been mysteriously removed from the record by the time a copy was requested."
ISPA told The Register it based its allegations on observations attested to by “a legal representative of one of the candidates [who] was present throughout the course of voting on Monday [June 23]."
An AFRINIC member who requested anonymity told us he was made aware that someone at the in-person voting session tried to exercise a power of attorney to vote on his behalf, but told us the document must have been a fake, as he never signed such an authorization.
[8]
Global internet governance organization ICANN has also claimed that AFRINIC's receiver discovered one forged power of attorney.
The Register has asked AFRINIC, the organization’s receiver, and the Nomination Committee that oversaw the election, to explain the decision to annul the election and address allegations regarding fraudulent powers of attorney. We also asked if the next AFRINIC election – which a Mauritian court has ordered to take place before September 30 – will use the same arrangements employed for the annulled vote.
We’ve also made inquiries with Mauritius’s Ministry of Information Technology, Communication and Innovation, and Mauritius Police for comment.
[9]
None of the above responded to our inquiries – some of which we have sent multiple times over the last two weeks.
ICANN is angry
ICANN has tried to get to the bottom of the election and in a July 3 [10]letter [PDF] to AFRINIC’s receiver criticized him for not explaining the election annulment or responding adequately to its previous calls for transparency.
"The AFRINIC community deserves a transparent reporting of the full investigation that you have conducted on this serious and critical matter, including the extent of the investigation and the full findings,” wrote ICANN president and CEO Kurt Erik Lindqvist.
ICANN’s letter references a [11]policy [PDF] that allows it to appoint an emergency replacement for a dysfunctional RIR, and states that ICANN reserves all rights to start the process that would make that possible.
ICANN called on AFRINIC’s receiver to respond to its concerns by July 8.
That deadline has passed and ICANN has not posted any correspondence from the receiver.
[12]Africa's boardless, bossless, generally troubled internet registry to hold elections in June
[13]AFRINIC election delayed after ISP Association wins injunction over voter rights
[14]AFRINIC election annulled after ICANN writes angry letter to African regional internet registry
[15]Africa's internet registry has sometimes needed financial assistance to keep operating, could fail, warns ARIN head
That’s not necessarily an indication that the receiver has not responded, because The Register understands that ICANN does not put all correspondence on the record.
So perhaps the receiver has explained what’s going on – but left everyone other than ICANN in the dark.
Calls for a wind up
While AFRINIC waits for information on what caused the receiver to annul the election, one of its members has decided it has enough evidence about the situation to conclude the organization is beyond help and has applied to have it wound up.
That member is Cloud Innovation Ltd, a company based in the Seychelles that has been involved in past legal disputes with AFRINIC.
In a Friday [16]post , Cloud Innovation claimed the election was annulled due to "a single disputed vote" and "one disputed proxy".
"The standard now set is that even a lone contested ballot can void the collective voice of the community," the company’s post states. "Such an unrealistic threshold means no election could ever be conclusively accepted, perpetuating an endless cycle of disputes and disenfranchisement."
Cloud Innovation therefore "believes that the only remaining path to protect the African Internet community is to support the orderly winding up of AFRINIC … dissolving AFRINIC as a corporate entity and transitioning its responsibilities to a more trusted framework."
The company suggests that course of action because it believes it will be faster than an ICANN compliance review or derecognition of AFRINIC, and will preserve the stability of the internet numbering system.
“It is a step toward ending the prolonged instability and opening the door for a fresh governance model untainted by past controversies.”
A LinkedIn [17]post by Brian Munyao Longwe, president of the Internet Society’s Malawi chapter, includes an image of what appears to be a newspaper advertisement that states Cloud Innovation has already filed court papers seeking to wind up AFRINIC, which has until July 24 to respond. ®
Get our [18]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/26/icann_letter_afrinic_election_suspended/
[2] https://afrinic.net/ast/2025/Suspension_communique.pdf
[3] https://afrinic.net/communique-annulation-of-the-2025-board-election-process
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aHGJfhDJ-W9vbNGDMRoS7gAAAcI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aHGJfhDJ-W9vbNGDMRoS7gAAAcI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
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[7] https://www.linkedin.com/posts/the-internet-service-providers%27-association-of-sa-ispa-_ispa-statement-on-afrinic-elections-on-activity-7343539602357420032-YpV7/
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aHGJfhDJ-W9vbNGDMRoS7gAAAcI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aHGJfhDJ-W9vbNGDMRoS7gAAAcI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/correspondence/lindqvist-to-dabee-03jul25-en.pdf
[11] https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/implementation-assessment-procedures-icp-2-compliance-24dec24-en.pdf
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/22/afrinic_election_date_set/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/17/afrinic_election_injunction_halts_poll/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/26/icann_letter_afrinic_election_suspended/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2023/02/22/afrinic_failure_warning_apnic_link/
[16] https://cloudinnovation.org/cloudinnovation-call-AFRINIC-wind-up-amid-election-impasse.html
[17] https://www.linkedin.com/posts/brian-munyao-longwe-25432_in-the-famous-biblical-story-two-women-came-activity-7349291478176665600-fXMg
[18] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
AFRINIC is one of the world’s five regional internet registries (RIRs) and manages IP addresses and autonomous system numbers for 54 countries in Africa and the Indian Ocean. The organization has a long history of dysfunction and has operated without a board since 2022, a situation many in the internet governance community hoped would change after a court-appointed receiver arranged elections that ran for a week online, plus a day of in-person voting on June 23.
That vote was instead [1]suspended, then annulled after AFRINIC’s Nominations Committee [2]promised [PDF] to make inquiries into the vote and the receiver [3]mentioned "feedback and expressions of concern from several stakeholders regarding potential irregularities related to voter documentation."
[4]
AFRINIC has not detailed those investigations, concerns or irregularities, or responded to The Register ’s requests for information.
[5]
[6]
South Africa’s Internet Service Providers' Association (ISPA) told The Register that during in-person voting on June 23, "it became apparent that one party claimed to hold Powers of Attorney to represent nearly half of all AFRINIC resource holders. Alarmingly, evidence emerged that at least some of the Powers of Attorney were fraudulent, as one Mauritius-based AFRINIC member attempted to vote in person, only to find that there was someone else claiming to hold a Power of Attorney already voting on their behalf."
In a [7]LinkedIn post , ISPA made two further allegations:
"A duly authorised representative of a resource holder attempting to vote, only to be informed that another person had already submitted a vote on their behalf thanks to a Power of Attorney, which that resource holder had not provided to any third party."
"A representative of a resource holder, learning that a Power of Attorney had been submitted on their behalf, only to find that that particular Power of Attorney (the existence of which had already been recorded by AFRINIC staff) had been mysteriously removed from the record by the time a copy was requested."
ISPA told The Register it based its allegations on observations attested to by “a legal representative of one of the candidates [who] was present throughout the course of voting on Monday [June 23]."
An AFRINIC member who requested anonymity told us he was made aware that someone at the in-person voting session tried to exercise a power of attorney to vote on his behalf, but told us the document must have been a fake, as he never signed such an authorization.
[8]
Global internet governance organization ICANN has also claimed that AFRINIC's receiver discovered one forged power of attorney.
The Register has asked AFRINIC, the organization’s receiver, and the Nomination Committee that oversaw the election, to explain the decision to annul the election and address allegations regarding fraudulent powers of attorney. We also asked if the next AFRINIC election – which a Mauritian court has ordered to take place before September 30 – will use the same arrangements employed for the annulled vote.
We’ve also made inquiries with Mauritius’s Ministry of Information Technology, Communication and Innovation, and Mauritius Police for comment.
[9]
None of the above responded to our inquiries – some of which we have sent multiple times over the last two weeks.
ICANN is angry
ICANN has tried to get to the bottom of the election and in a July 3 [10]letter [PDF] to AFRINIC’s receiver criticized him for not explaining the election annulment or responding adequately to its previous calls for transparency.
"The AFRINIC community deserves a transparent reporting of the full investigation that you have conducted on this serious and critical matter, including the extent of the investigation and the full findings,” wrote ICANN president and CEO Kurt Erik Lindqvist.
ICANN’s letter references a [11]policy [PDF] that allows it to appoint an emergency replacement for a dysfunctional RIR, and states that ICANN reserves all rights to start the process that would make that possible.
ICANN called on AFRINIC’s receiver to respond to its concerns by July 8.
That deadline has passed and ICANN has not posted any correspondence from the receiver.
[12]Africa's boardless, bossless, generally troubled internet registry to hold elections in June
[13]AFRINIC election delayed after ISP Association wins injunction over voter rights
[14]AFRINIC election annulled after ICANN writes angry letter to African regional internet registry
[15]Africa's internet registry has sometimes needed financial assistance to keep operating, could fail, warns ARIN head
That’s not necessarily an indication that the receiver has not responded, because The Register understands that ICANN does not put all correspondence on the record.
So perhaps the receiver has explained what’s going on – but left everyone other than ICANN in the dark.
Calls for a wind up
While AFRINIC waits for information on what caused the receiver to annul the election, one of its members has decided it has enough evidence about the situation to conclude the organization is beyond help and has applied to have it wound up.
That member is Cloud Innovation Ltd, a company based in the Seychelles that has been involved in past legal disputes with AFRINIC.
In a Friday [16]post , Cloud Innovation claimed the election was annulled due to "a single disputed vote" and "one disputed proxy".
"The standard now set is that even a lone contested ballot can void the collective voice of the community," the company’s post states. "Such an unrealistic threshold means no election could ever be conclusively accepted, perpetuating an endless cycle of disputes and disenfranchisement."
Cloud Innovation therefore "believes that the only remaining path to protect the African Internet community is to support the orderly winding up of AFRINIC … dissolving AFRINIC as a corporate entity and transitioning its responsibilities to a more trusted framework."
The company suggests that course of action because it believes it will be faster than an ICANN compliance review or derecognition of AFRINIC, and will preserve the stability of the internet numbering system.
“It is a step toward ending the prolonged instability and opening the door for a fresh governance model untainted by past controversies.”
A LinkedIn [17]post by Brian Munyao Longwe, president of the Internet Society’s Malawi chapter, includes an image of what appears to be a newspaper advertisement that states Cloud Innovation has already filed court papers seeking to wind up AFRINIC, which has until July 24 to respond. ®
Get our [18]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/26/icann_letter_afrinic_election_suspended/
[2] https://afrinic.net/ast/2025/Suspension_communique.pdf
[3] https://afrinic.net/communique-annulation-of-the-2025-board-election-process
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aHGJfhDJ-W9vbNGDMRoS7gAAAcI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
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[7] https://www.linkedin.com/posts/the-internet-service-providers%27-association-of-sa-ispa-_ispa-statement-on-afrinic-elections-on-activity-7343539602357420032-YpV7/
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aHGJfhDJ-W9vbNGDMRoS7gAAAcI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
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[10] https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/correspondence/lindqvist-to-dabee-03jul25-en.pdf
[11] https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/implementation-assessment-procedures-icp-2-compliance-24dec24-en.pdf
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/22/afrinic_election_date_set/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/17/afrinic_election_injunction_halts_poll/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/26/icann_letter_afrinic_election_suspended/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2023/02/22/afrinic_failure_warning_apnic_link/
[16] https://cloudinnovation.org/cloudinnovation-call-AFRINIC-wind-up-amid-election-impasse.html
[17] https://www.linkedin.com/posts/brian-munyao-longwe-25432_in-the-famous-biblical-story-two-women-came-activity-7349291478176665600-fXMg
[18] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Cloud Innovation.
IGotOut
....who are these?
Their website looks like a little sus.
They just seems to complain about AFRINIC, are "partnered" with a company in Hong Kong and, well, that's it.
Seems like a dodgy front company to me
https://cloudinnovation.org/
Sounds familiar...
Ah, Cloud Innovation... I was wondering how long it would be before their name cropped up again in connection with this latest mess. And, what's this... They don't think that these allegations should invalidate the result of the ballot? Hmm... It'll be interesting to find out after all this is over exactly which member it was who seemed to have convinced so many others to lend their proxies, apparently in some cases without them even seeming to know they'd done so!