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Kenya secures seat in international telecommunication council


Kenya has yet again gained the opportunity to sit in the international council after being re-elected to the Council of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) during the 2022 Plenipotential Conference held in Bucharest, Romania.

The ITU, which was founded in 1865, is the UN specialized agency responsible for matters related to ICTs.

During the voting for the member states elected to serve on ITU Council for 2023-2026, Kenya garnered 146 votes, which was the highest in the African region, hence securing a seat on the 48-member Council.

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The African region had 13 seats to the council, and other countries that will sit in the council apart from Kenya include Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, Mauritius, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal; South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, and Uganda.

While welcoming the news, the Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) said that the results demonstrate that Kenya continues to enjoy the trust and confidence of the international community to provide meaningful leadership in the advancement of the digital economy.

“It is also an inspiration for us to do more to deliver dividends of digital transformation to every citizen in the country,” a statement from CA reads.

The authority says that the well-coordinated campaign was spearheaded by the CA in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Information, Communication & Digital Economy.

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Principal Secretary in the State Department of Broadcasting and Telecommunications Esther Koimett welcomed the win.

“Exhilarated at the election of Kenya to ITU council for the period 2023 – 2026. We got the highest votes for our region (Region D) 146/180. A big thanks to the team.”

Region A, which is Americas, had 9 seats – Argentina, Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, Cuba, El Salvador, Mexico, Paraguay and United States.

Region B, which is in Western Europe, had 8 seats – France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and  United Kingdom.

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