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March 11, 2016
Ghana retains seat on ITU
Accra, Nov. 17, GNA - Ghana has retained her seat on the
International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Council after a
tight voting session held on Thursday in Antalya, Turkey
where member countries are currently holding a
Plenipotentiary Conference.
This is the second time Ghana has won an election to the ITU
Council since independence when it joined the ITU. The first
occasion was at the Morocco Plenipotentiary Conference in
2002.
A statement forwarded to the Ghana News Agency from the
Conference said, Ghana improved her performance in the
voting session from the last Plenipotentiary Conference
placing ninth this time with 107 votes as against the 13th
position (83 votes) it occupied in 2002 in Marrakesh,
Morocco.
The election formed the climax of the Conference, which
elected 46 member States to sit on the ITU Council.
The ITU has five administrative regions each of which is
entitled to a number of seats, which is keenly contested.
The competition was fiercer in the African Region, which had
20 countries contesting for 13 seats.
The casualties from the Africa Region were Uganda, Burundi,
Sudan, Gabon, Cote d’Ivoire, Rwanda and Zambia.
The statement said there were surprises from the other
regions which saw countries like the United Kingdom failing
to secure election to the Council for the second time.
“This signifies the nature of the competition in the ITU,”
the statement said.
The Council represents the membership of the Union in the
interval between Plenipotentiary Conferences and its role is
to consider broad telecommunication policy issues to ensure
that the Union's activities, policies and strategies fully
responded to today's dynamic and rapidly changing
telecommunication environment.
The Council also prepares a report on ITU policy and
strategic planning and ensures the smooth day-to-day running
of the Union; coordinate work programmes; approve budgets
and control finances and expenditure.
The statement said during the conference, Ghana, as a co-ordinator
for the Commonwealth positions in the Plenipotentiary
Conference, was in the forefront of the negotiations that
saw the election of Mr Hamadoun Toure of Mali to the top
position of Secretary General of the ITU.
Prof. Mike Ocquaye, Minister of Communications, who led
Ghana’s delegation to the Conference, was mandated by the
Africa Group and the Commonwealth ITU Group to seek the
support of the other Regions of the ITU in a crucial third
round voting that eventually secured the seat for Africa.
Meanwhile, the candidature of Mr John R. K. Tandoh for
Deputy Secretary General was withdrawn honourably because
the topmost position had been won by an African and for
which reason the ITU would not vote for a second official
from Africa.
This, the statement said, was demonstrated in the loss of Mr
Patrick Masambu of Uganda, who was the front-runner for the
Position of Director of the Development Bureau and had to
succumb to Mr Al Basheer of Saudi Arabia for a position that
was well-deserved for Africa.
Prof. Ocquaye has since been relieved by Dr Benjamin Aggrey
Ntim, Deputy Minister, after the first week of the
conference at which he led the campaign for the Council
seat.
The results of the elections on 16th November 2006 are as
follows: Morocco (117), Senegal (117), Algeria (115),
Nigeria (114), Mali (113), Tunisia (113), South Africa
(112), Egypt (111), Ghana (107), Burkina Faso (103), Kenya
(97), Tanzania (97), and Cameroon (95).
GNA
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