Ghana Retains Seat On ITU Council

Ghana has successfully maintained her seat on the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Council, for Region D, Africa.

Ghana had a number of 123 votes from the total votes cast and placed 6th out of the 13 countries elected.

The highly contested election for Region D, Africa, was contested by 19 member states for 13 available seats on the ITU Council.

This follows a week of intense campaigning and lobbying among member states for the coveted Council Seats at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference being held in Dubai.

The Minister for Communications Hon. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, expressing her elation at this win, said the win is for all Ghanaians, and that it would encourage Ghana to achieve more on its digitization agenda.

Honourable Owusu-Ekuful expressed her gratitude to member states who supported Ghana in her bid for re-election to the ITU Council.

Referring to her high level statement which she gave during the opening ceremony, she said this re-election would also compliment the work of the President in pursuing the Digital Ghana Agenda for a massive transformation of the country’s economy through technology and broadband development, especially, as President Akufo-Addo is the Co-Chair of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Advocacy Group.

This is Ghana’s fifth election to the ITU Council, and the benefits of this include being able to contribute towards the development of ICTs, and play major roles in ensuring that appropriate ICT policies are developed.

Elections to the ITU Council also give an indication of Ghana’s performance in the ICT sector both at the national and international level.

The Plenipotentiary Conference is the highest decision-making body of ITU, the United Nations specialized agency for ICTs.

Held every four years, the Conference is the key event at which ITU Member States build consensus on key international ICT issues, elect leaders for the Union’s top posts, and decide on a road-map for ITU’s work over the next four-year period, including strategic and financial plans.

The ITU is governed by the Plenipotentiary Conference and the Administrative Council. The Plenipotentiary Conference is the supreme organ of the Union. It is the decision-making body which determines the direction of the Union and its activities.

The Council, on the other hand, acts as the Union’s governing body in the interval between Plenipotentiary Conferences.

Its role is to consider broad telecommunication policy issues to ensure that the Union’s activities, policies, and strategies fully respond to today’s dynamic, rapidly changing telecommunications environment.