[Community-Discuss] Correction to my previous email

[Owen DeLong]

> On Jul 28, 2021, at 15:51 , Paul Hjul <hjul.paul at gmail.com> wrote:

> 

> Dear Members,

> In times of uncertainty and misinformation even the smallest detail can be used to confuse and disrupt even further.

> I do not want to contribute to the confusion so allow me to try again to convey a more accurate message.

> Yesterday, while shooting the video with the update on freezing our bank accounts, AFRINIC had not yet received the Judge's Order regarding our application for discharge or variation of the freezing order.

> https://afrinic.net/20210727-ceo-addresses-freezing-of-afrinic-financial-accounts <https://afrinic.net/20210727-ceo-addresses-freezing-of-afrinic-financial-accounts> <https://afrinic.net/20210727-ceo-addresses-freezing-of-afrinic-financial-accounts <https://afrinic.net/20210727-ceo-addresses-freezing-of-afrinic-financial-accounts>>

> I was only made aware of the Judge's Order minutes before sending out the email.

> https://lists.afrinic.net/pipermail/community-discuss/2021-July/004338.html <https://lists.afrinic.net/pipermail/community-discuss/2021-July/004338.html> <https://lists.afrinic.net/pipermail/community-discuss/2021-July/004338.html <https://lists.afrinic.net/pipermail/community-discuss/2021-July/004338.html>>

> However, I have failed to mention in my email, for the sake of completeness, that the Judge had declined our prayers and I simply mentioned that the matter has been fixed for the 4th of August for the other parties to communicate their stand. This omission on my part was not in any way intentional.

> 

> My team and I are working on resolving this whole situation as soon as possible. We are humbled and honored by the huge amount of support we are seeing from our membership that are our partners in building Africa’s digital future.

> I appreciate your kind understanding on the matter.

> Kind Regards,

> Eddy Kayihura

> Chief Executive Officer, AFRINIC

> ceo at afrinic.net <https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo/members-discuss> <mailto:ceo at afrinic.net <https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo/members-discuss>>

> 

> This is greatly appreciated and in all honesty I fear that it is profoundly unjust that a CEO of an organization the size of Afrinic and with the need to have a "legal department" is put into the position in which  the CEO is being put into. The misstep is clearly unintentional and completely understandable. This is especially because of matters around sub iudice rules and undoubtedly many of the issues which give rise to legal proceedings predate the term of office of the inumbent CEO. I have little fear in suggesting that at least some of the mess has been created as a result of the organization acting terribly daftly - either as to the merits of a position or in not grasping commercial realities and litigation strategy that would follow.


I too would like to add that I respect and appreciate Eddy’s comments regarding his omission. I do not doubt the legitimacy of his claim that the omission was accidental in nature and the result of a rush to get communications out.


> My worry is that the community is not aligning itself with the reality of the ramifications of relying on the stability fund: https://www.nro.net/accountability/rir-accountability/joint-rir-stability-fund/ <https://www.nro.net/accountability/rir-accountability/joint-rir-stability-fund/>


So far, we have no indication that the stability fund has actually agreed to support AFRINIC (requires unanimous consent of all 5 RIR CEOs), nor do we have any confirmation that this is the alleged alternative source of funding. Indeed, AFRINIC has been quite opaque about where these alternate funds are coming from, possibly because they are concerned about their secret stash of cash also getting attached. I’ll leave it to AFRINIC to choose their desired level of financial transparency here and to the members to decide what they consider acceptable in this regard.


> I find it difficult to understand why the RIRs which have pledged considerably more to the stability fund will be satisfied with the need to release funds to preserve Afrinic persisting in litigation with members that is seeped in a regionalist ideological overlay. The fact that the stability fund is not to allow an RIR to do as it pleases but rather to ensure global stability means that a fundamental string of promoting a global open Internet is inevitable.

> 

> If anything the best utilization of funds coming from RIPE (primarily - as RIPE is the most committed to the stability) would be on policy development and I anticipate that if emergency measures to stabilize Afrinic take the form of policy development suggestions from RIPE that this will immediately become a political taboo. Hopefully the Board and management will quickly make it very clear that partnership in "building Africa's digital future" means collaboration of a global nature. It means devising consensus and action that is aimed at promoting a true digital future and distancing from the deleterious xenophobic and regionalist attitudes and discourse that flares up. The purpose of RIRs is to promote the development of the global Internet within regions, it is not to carve up the Internet into regions. 


Very well said, Paul.


> The fund is clear that the RIR needs to resolve the problems causing the crisis in order to use the fund:

> It is expected that governing body of the affected RIR will take necessary and relevant decisions to resolve problems that lead the crisis.

> 

> This brings me back to the fact that the best way to manage the risk which is plaguing the organization is to get as much dispute resolution handled outside of potentially organization shattering litigation. The membership simply do not know how many litigants there are knocking at Afrinic but it is quite clear that there are several cases that need to be handled appropriately and to date the organization has crafted an environment favouring a litigious approach. If the composition of the Board is what is making it feasible for a litigant to convince a Court that the organization acted with an ulterior motive then the CFOs of the other RIRs ought to want the Board to be reconstituted. It appears that the "assisted review" process is giving rise to much of the crisis and so I suspect RIPE members familiar with the situation in Afrinic will charge that organization to require that RIPE take charge of that process before opening up the wallet.

> 

> While support from the membership is vital to receive assistance if the fund is to be relied on the buy-in in "project Afrinic" is going to be needed. I have difficulty seeing this support if the organization does not by the 4th August have a convincing strategy for ensuring that those disputes which are acting as a millstone around the organization are handled in an orderly manner which doesn't undermine the stability of the organization. This means that accountability of Afrinic's governing bodies - particularly it's Board - is paramount. After all for accountability the NRO is emphatic that Afrinic is bound to the laws of Mauritius (and thus her courts, so the organization cannot be perceived or be playing chicken with the courts):

> Each RIR is accountable to its membership and bound by the laws of the jurisdiction in which it operates.

> (https://www.nro.net/accountability/ <https://www.nro.net/accountability/>) 


Here here!

Owen

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