Police in Mauritius are conducting a criminal investigation into possible forgery connected to a disputed board election held by the African Network Information Centre in June 2025. AFRINIC, which manages internet addresses for 54 countries across Africa and the Indian Ocean, annulled the vote after its oversight committee halted in-person balloting due to concerns about the process. According to The Register's report this week, authorities are treating the matter as two alleged forgery cases under investigation by the Central CID, a specialized unit that handles sensitive cases involving public interest.
The election irregularities centered on proxy voting documents, according to claims made by South Africa's Internet Service Providers' Association after the annulment. In one instance, an authorized representative of a member organization arrived to vote only to learn another person had already cast a ballot on their behalf using a power of attorney the member never issued. In a second case, a member discovered a power of attorney had been submitted in their name, but when they requested a copy, the document — which AFRINIC staff had already recorded — had mysteriously disappeared from the registry's records. AFRINIC has never publicly explained why it canceled the election, and neither the receiver who annulled the vote nor the four UK-based barristers who comprised the oversight committee responded to requests for comment.
The election crisis stems from years of governance problems at AFRINIC and legal battles with Cloud Innovation, a member challenging the registry's authority to terminate users who violate IP address rules. Those disputes prevented AFRINIC from assembling a board for several years and pushed Mauritian courts to place the organization in receivership. The receiver eventually stabilized operations enough to stage the June 2025 election, which offered members online voting, in-person voting in Mauritius, or proxy voting through appointed representatives. A Mauritian police spokesperson confirmed the investigation involves forgery allegations related to the 2025 election cycle.
The controversies around member termination remain very much alive. AFRINIC this week published an update on proposed bylaw changes following community consultation, and the organization's Bylaws Review Committee said it's exploring options to strengthen legal safeguards around the board's power to remove members. Notably, the committee won't recommend adding a specific dispute resolution clause to the constitution, despite such a provision potentially avoiding the protracted legal fights the registry still faces. The registry also announced that South African lawyer Mike Silber, who's served on ICANN's board and held senior roles at African telecoms and tech firms, will take over as CEO on January 1, 2027. Given the unresolved criminal probe and ongoing debates over termination authority, the governance questions that have plagued Africa's internet address manager for years show no signs of quick resolution. Organizations navigating regional infrastructure bodies may find that clarity around voting integrity and member rights proves far harder to secure than anyone anticipated when receivership first promised a fresh start.