Then Gambia pulled out from the elections of the executive members of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a specialised agency of the United Nations entrusted with driving digital transformation to back Zimbabwe.
The candidate for The Gambia was Ambassador Prof. Muhammadou Kah.
Zimbabwe’s candidate, Dr Luckyson Cosmas Zavazava, was then elected Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) in the Third Round at the ongoing ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Bucharest, Romania.
The meeting is scheduled to run from the 26th of September to the 14th of October 2022.
In the 1st round of votes:
1). Zimbabwe got 59,
2). the Bahamas had 47,
3). The Gambia got 35,
4). Pakistan got 20,
5). Cameroon got 11 and
6). Congo Brazzaville 8.
In the 2nd round votes:
1). Zimbabwe got 81
2). the Bahamas got 59,
3). Pakistan got 5 and
4). The Gambia got 26 votes before pulling out to back Zimbabwe for the third round.
While there were reports that The Gambia was being sponsored to frustrate Zimbabwe, the West African country claimed it pulled out on Pan-Africanist lines as it intended to ensure that Africa gets continental representation at the international telecommunications body, according to The Point.
The elections concluded on the 30th of September, in Bucharest, Romania.
Zimbabwean telecommunications expert, Dr Luckyson Cosmas Zavazava made history after being elected the Director of BDT at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) at the ongoing ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Bucharest, Romania.