Communication Minister inaugurates GDNR Nine-Member Board

The Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful on Wednesday, 22^nd September 2021 swore into office a nine (9) member board of trustee for the Ghana Domain Name Registry (GDNR) with a call on members to use their diverse backgrounds, skills and expertise to carefully navigate the redelegation process to ensure its successful completion.

“Once this is completed, a lot more Registrars can be brought on board to sell .GH domain names and thus allow for best practice using the 3-R model (Registrant, Registrar and Registry) in Ghana. Allowing many more Registrar companies to be involved will increase the reach of the Registry and enliven the DNs ecosystem in Ghana as a whole” she said.

The Board is made up of  Dr Nana Yaa Tina Owusu-Prempeh (Rev.) as the Chairperson with Nana Kofi Asare-Aidoo, Mr Andrew Ayitey Okoe Bulley, Dr Francis Boateng Agynim, ACP Vance Baba Gariba, Mr Lucas Yikimpa Chigabatia,  Prof. Daniels Obeng- Ofori, Ing. Isaac Teye Ayiku and Mad. Estelle Akoflo-Sowah as members.

Addressing the members of the Board, the Minister underscored the importance of the GDNR in handling .GH domain names, stressing that is vital to the Government’s digitalization agenda since the local domain names form a core part of the local Internet.

“The Registry is a crucial resource for everyone as the  transfer of individuals onto digital platforms is part of the digital economy. This would allow  individuals, government, and commercial institutions to take full advantage of the numerous benefits the Internet brings, accelerating the growth of the economy generally” the Minister noted.

According to Mrs Owusu-Ekuful the GDNR is still in its formative stages and that places a responsibility on the Governing Board to fully operationalise it and provide the needed strategic direction to ensure that the GDNR plays its role in Ghana’s digital transformation agenda.

Members of the Governing Board she indicated have been carefully selected to represent all facets of the GDNR stakeholder community.

“I expect to feel the presence of the Governing Board within the shortest possible time by addressing the most critical issues facing the GDNR and must reiterate that we expect a lot from you, and I believe you will vindicate the appointing authority, HE the President’s faith in you” she said.

Minister challenged members to channel all efforts at ensuring that the re-delegation process is completed and the basic infrastructure of the GDNR strengthened to ensure the resilience of its systems to fully carry out its mandate in the interest of the people of Ghana and the Internet community at large.

This is of utmost importance, as stated earlier, because all other activities of the GDNR hinge on this.

Mrs Owusu-Ekuful paid glorying tribute to Prof. Nii Narku Quaynor, who is the father of the internet in Ghana and to a large extent in Africa.

She noted that as far back as 2006 , when very few people knew what the internet was, he established one of first ICANN Accredited Domain Registrars in Africa, Ghana Dot Com (GDC), has been instrumental in the development of the internet, active in academia and has served on several boards and commissions including ICANN, UN ICT Task Force, IGF-MAG, ICANN Strategy Panel on Public Responsibility, and the Global Commission on Internet Governance (GCIG). He is the Founding Chairman of AfriNIC as well as a founding member of AfricaCERT and WACREN amongst many others.

“We appreciate his efforts in developing the internet community globally and I urge you to work closely with him to ensure a seamless redelegation exercise. I have already had a series of conversations with him in this regard and have no doubt that the inauguration of this board today will galvanise thèse efforts and help us make history together as we work to operationalise our law. Prof, Ayekoo, as you pass the baton you have carried so ably on to the next generation and hopefully work with them to cement Ghana’s place in the history of the development of this pivotal industry on the continent” she added.

Dr Nana Yaa  Tina Owusu Prempeh (Rev.) who spoke on behalf of the board members  thanked the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo for the trust reposed in them and assured that the Board will work with the Ministry and the relevant agencies to ensure that they meet their target.