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GHANA RE-ELECTED TO ITU COUNCIL

Ghana has been re-elected to the Council of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) for the 2023-2026 term. Elections for the Council membership were held on October 3, 2022, at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Bucharest, Romania.

A press release by the National Communications Authority (NCA) on October 3, 2022, indicated that the Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, Hon. Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, who led Ghana’s electoral campaign, said, the Republic of Ghana will keep up with her sterling contribution to the ITU Council while ensuring that it carries her service to the telecommunications world in a resourceful, transparent and forward-looking manner.

The Honourable Minister reiterated government’s commitment to ensuring that its citizens across the country get connected. She explained that government had already done a lot through initiatives such as the innovative Rural Telephony project and Sectoral Emergency Response Teams (CERTS) to secure the cyber space among others.

Ghana secured 145 votes and ranked 2nd among the 13 countries elected to the Council from Africa. This is the highest number of votes Ghana has secured at an ITU Council elections.

Each of ITU’s five administrative regions is entitled to a specific number of Council seats. In total, forty-eight (48) ITU Member states were elected to the Council.

The ITU Council acts as the Union’s governing body in the interval between Plenipotentiary Conferences held every four years. Its role is to consider broad telecommunications policy issues to ensure that the Union’s activities, policies and strategies, fully respond to today’s dynamic, rapidly changing telecommunications environment. The Council is also responsible for ensuring the smooth da-to-day running of the Union, coordinating work programmes, approving budgets, controlling finance and expenditure.

In a related development, Rev. Ing. Edmund Yirenkyi Fianko, the Acting Director of Engineering at the National Communications Authority (NCA) was elected to ITU’s Radio Regulations Board (RRB) for the 2023-2026 term. Rev. Ing. Fianko is one of the three RRB members representing Africa on the twelve-member Board with the responsibility to approve the Rules of Procedure for the application of the Radio and Regulations and to adjudicate on matters brought before the Board.