[rpd] bylaws consultation aspects that impact the PDP/community

[Mike Silber]

Mike

This is not a policy discussion and as such the BRC has mandated its own
comment process (which closes today).

No issue with posting your thoughts to the RPD list, but they may not be
taken into account.

Can I recommend that you avail yourself of that comment mechanism if you
would like your views to be considered.

Regards

Mike
(in my personal capacity)


On Sun, 30 Aug 2026 at 16:09, Mike Burns via RPD <rpd at afrinic.net> wrote:

> Hi Benson,
>
> I believe nominating committees who can exclude candidates from the slate
> present the risk of regulatory capture.
> The board should not be selecting the nominating committee at all, in my
> opinion. I concur with Benson's statement:
>
> " It would be better for the board not to select the nominating committee."
>
>
> Regards,
> Mike Burns
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Benson Muite <benson_muite at emailplus.org>
> Sent: Sunday, August 30, 2026 6:30 AM
> To: rpd at afrinic.net
> Subject: Re: [rpd] bylaws consultation aspects that impact the
> PDP/community
>
>
>
>
> On Sun, Aug 30, 2026, at 11:15 AM, Benson Muite wrote:
> > Hi Jordi,
> >
> > Thanks for your efforts to improve the transparency of this process by
> > making your feedback public.
>
> It is good that there is an option to give comments semi-anonymously, but
> interaction between people interested in the review, and not just with the
> committee is useful for accountability and transparency.  My comments on
> different clause changes:
>
> Article 1
>
> The definition of e-voting should be modified.  At the present time nobody
> has come up with a voting system that would work over the internet that
> enables a secret ballot that is secure from outside interference and can be
> audited that votes are recorded as cast.  While there are efforts to create
> such systems and some countries use e-voting in public legislative
> elections, most countries only use these for citizens in the diaspora
> because the expectation is that the likelihood of election interference
> having a significant effect on election outcomes is low.  The text could be
> worded as follows:
>
> E-voting: An election system that allows a voter to record his or her
> ballot
> electronically from any location with a known degree of security and
> secrecy.
>
> Article 3
>
> AFRINIC should be registered in another jurisdiction for legislative
> purposes.  The court process in Mauritius has proven inadequate to the task
> of legislating an international body that manages internet resources for
> African countries.  The highest court of appeal for Mauritius is based in
> the United Kingdom, most African countries would object to this due to
> sovereignity.  It would be worth examining whether AFRINIC can be
> registered
> as a body under the African Union or some other organization/country and
> have legal matters dealt with under a special court.  There is an African
> Court for Human Rights, https://www.african-court.org/afchpr/ perhaps its
> scope could be enlarged to also include technology issues on the African
> continent.
>
>
> Article 4
>
> (b)   Before finalising any changes in fees, the Board shall consult the
> Members and allow at least 90 days for comments
>
> (c)   After the Board finalises any changes in fees, the new fees shall
> take
> effect only from the commencement of the next financial year, provided that
> Members, as appropriate, and the community have been given not less than
> ninety (90) days' prior notice of the new fees.
>
> Article 5
>
> It would be good to clarify if the PDP process needs to be followed for
> changing the registered office, or for the community to be consulted.
>
> Article 6
>
> The rights and responsibilities of registered and associate members should
> be defined.  Do registered members have the right to vote?  What benefits
> and responsibilities do associate members have?
>
> Article 7
>
> 7.2 should perhaps be changed from:
> Subject to this Constitution, Members shall be entitled:
> to
> Subject to this Constitution, Resource Members shall be entitled:
>
> Article 8
>
> Section 8.6 should be subject to independent oversight.  A PDP type process
> could be followed or an independent body with knowledge of and interest in
> the internet in Africa could be constituted and consulted.
>
> Article 9
>
> It would be better for the board not to select the nominating committee.
> Having 6 members with rotation of 3 members every year would be better than
> a 2 year combined term.
>
> Random choice of nominating committee members from volunteers within
> AfriNIC
> resource members, perhaps by sub-region may allow new people to participate
> in AfriNIC.
>
> It does not seem reasonable to not have people on the nominating committee
> not be from regions where candidates are sought.  As there are members from
> other regions, they are unlikely to have undue influence.  One could
> perhaps
> indicate that they cannot participate in the nominating process for people
> for seats in their region.
>
> Will the nominating committee be required to meet in person?
>
> Article 10
>
> Given AfiNICs purpose, the staff may not have the required expertise to
> hold
> an election.  If internet based elections will continue to be used some
> mechanism of getting temporary external expertise should be sought to
> supplement staff knowledge.  A transparent process to do this should be
> followed and it should be subject to review and approval by AfriNIC
> resource
> members, not just the board.
>
> Article 11
>
> Clarification is sought as to whether a special meeting is a Special
> General
> Meeting only or can be any congregation of AfriNIC members and interested
> parties.
>
> Article 12
>
> An authentication procedure should be specified to ensure identities of
> attendees are verified.  A method based on public private key verification
> is reasonable.  As ip addresses are an important part of Resource Public
> Key
> Infrastructure, it would be useful to see this being used in AFRINIC
> processes.  The designated contact for a resource member could digitally
> sign a copy of an identity document of an authorized representative or
> proxy.
>
> Article 13
>
> No director should be eligible for immediate re-election, Africa has no
> shortage of people that can be grown into effective leaders. One could
> consider a 4 year board member term instead.  Efforts should be made to
> move
> the registered jurisdiction of AFRINIC outside of Mauritius.  As much of
> the
> administrative work can be done remotely and on a part time basis,
> requiring
> residency in a particular jurisdiction of one director reduces the pool of
> eligible people.  Jurisdictions that support nominated legal company
> representatives should be sought.
>
> Article 16
>
> It is reasonable to allow for constitution of advisory committees.
> However,
> this clause does not allow for independent oversight of the board.  One
> could specify officers of other African technical and trade organizations
> as
> an independent oversight committee.
>
> Article 17
>
> The CEO should also be subject to an approval vote by resource members.
>
> An acting CEO should have limited powers.
>
> Article 18
>
> Directors other than the CEO should not receive remuneration.  An
> expectation of a weekly hourly commitment should be made, and if there are
> regular tasks that exceed this hourly commitment, a staff person should be
> appointed to assist directors.
>
> Travel and other expenses should be capped and the cap reviewed by resource
> members.  As much work can be done online, at most two trips per year
> should
> be reimbursed for directors.
>
> Article 19
>
> Board meetings can be held online.  Board members have opportunities to
> meet
> at an AGM, but as travel within Africa can be problematic (for example due
> to visas and other travel barriers), requiring travel to every board
> meeting
> will reduce the number of people willing and able to serve on the board.
>
> Verifying identity of board members at board meetings should be done, for
> example using public key cryptography.
>
> Will there be a person or persons responsible for managing the conflict of
> interest policy?  Will there be any need for confidentiality?  If there
> will
> be a need for confidentiality in some areas, how will this be balanced with
> open governance followed in AFRINIC?
>
> Article 23
>
> Embed the use of digital signatures and digitally signed e-mail withing
> AFRINICS operating procedures.
>
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