Ghana Retains Seat On ITU

Minister of Communications, Mr Haruna Iddrisu

Ghana maintained its seat on the 48-member council of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) at the 18th Plenipotentiary Conference of the union in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Ghana was elected among 13 countries from region D, made up of African countries. From the region of 21 countries vying for the 13 slots, Egypt, Kenya, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, South Africa, Mali, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal and Cameroun were the other countries which were elected to the council.

Ghana’s delegation to the conference, which was led by the , included a former Minister of Communications and incumbent Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Professor Mike Oquaye; Ghana’s Ambassador to the United States and Mexico, Mr Ohene Agyekum; the Director-General of the National Communications Authority (NCA), Mr Paarock VanPercy, and the Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Communications, Mr Twumasi Appiah.

Other members of the delegation were Mr Fritz Baffour, Member of the Parliamentary Select Committee; Alhaji Gamal A. Razak, Managing Director of Abrar International, and senior officials from the Ministry of Communications.

Mr Iddrisu told the Daily Graphic that the performance of Ghana was a testimony to the positive moves by the country to implement various policies as part of efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

In recognising the immense role and the quality of contributions made by the Ghanaian delegation during the plenaries of the conference, the United States of America (USA) has invited Ghana to join it and a few members of the council to discuss the fight against cyber crime which has become the bane of many countries.

Earlier, Dr Hamadoun Toure of Mali, Mr Houlin Zhao from China and Mr Malcom Johnson from Britain, who stood unopposed as Secretary-general, Deputy Secretary-General and Director of Telecommunications Bureau, respectively of the ITU, retained their seats with overwhelming votes for another four-year term.

Burkinabe Brahima Sanou beat two contestants from Mexico and Saudi Arabia to become the Director of Telecommunications Development, while Mr Francois Rancy from France became the new Director of the Radio Telecommunications Bureau.
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