The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) has announced its plans to open six offices abroad in order to combat the use of fraudulent licenses by Ghanaians living overseas.
This was disclosed during the opening ceremony of a new state-of-the-art DVLA office in Adentan Municipality on Wednesday, May 7.
The Adentan office will operate 24/7, providing services such as driver licensing and vehicle registration.
DVLA CEO Julius Neequaye Kotey explained that the pilot program will begin in countries like Germany and Canada, among others.
“Under my leadership, the DVLA, along with Foster Yeboah, is going to open six new stations outside of Ghana to address licensing issues. We have already approached several embassies and secured participation from Germany, UK, USA, Canada, Dubai, and South Africa. We are going to begin piloting with them,” he said.
Transport Minister Joseph Bukari Nikpe, who was the guest speaker at the event, urged the DVLA to enhance its service delivery and fulfill its mandate effectively.
“On behalf of the president, we charge DVLA to improve service delivery. They are responsible for registering and ensuring that every vehicle on our roads is roadworthy. They must ensure that every vehicle is registered and provide quality service to the people of Ghana,” he said.
The Driver and Vehicle Licencing Authority (DVLA) Board Chairman, Frank Davies, has disclosed that thirteen employees have been placed on interdiction and three others have had their appointments terminated as a result of staff misconduct at the company.
Davies emphasized that the board is committed to not providing protection for individuals who violate the disciplinary regulations of the authority. He urged all staff members to maintain a standard of conduct that is beyond criticism and to exhibit behavior that serves as a positive example for others to follow.
Davies noted that although the DVLA has achieved significant progress in optimizing services and decreasing processing durations, there are persistent obstacles like delays in printing driving licenses, instances of uncooperative behavior from certain staff members, and a rising occurrence of indiscipline and negative conduct.
Mr Davies was addressing the launch of the 25th anniversary celebration and opening of the 2023 mid-year review conference in Sunyani in the Bono Region last Wednesday.
It was organised on the theme: “Delivering quality service through optimisation: A panacea to consolidate our gains”.
Mr Davies called on the staff to seek innovative solutions to improve their processes and service delivery.
He said such innovative solutions to benefit clients remained at the forefront of technological advancements, and that it was worth exploring emerging trends in line with international best practices in order to promote road safety and environmental sustainability.
Mr Davies challenged the staff to embrace change, and to see challenges as opportunities for growth.
He gave the assurance that the DVLA was committed to building a customer-focused organisation that would be at the forefront of technological advancement.
The Bono Regional Minister, Justina Owusu-Banahene, commended the DVLA for working hard to introduce sanity into its processes, such as cutting down delays and extortion.
Ms Owusu-Banahene urged the DVLA to digitalise the renewal of driving licence and vehicle registrations, saying, “patrons are looking forward to a day when they can sit in the comfort of their homes and through technology renew their driver’s license and vehicle registrations”.
She said a section of the public had also questioned the roadworthiness of some vehicles which plied the roads, especially some fairly over-aged heavy duty trucks which broke down to cause unnecessary traffic jams.
Ms Owusu-Banahene urged the DVLA to work with the values of integrity, excellence, professionalism and reliability.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the DVLA, Kwasi Agyeman Busia, said advocating the adoption of electric vehicles would herald a new dawn of clean and green transportation in the country.
He explained that the promotion of the use of energy- efficient vehicles would mitigate the impact of fossil fuels on human health and environment.
He explained that evaluation, assessment and redefinition to correct role overlaps and redundancy were ongoing to ensure credible salary restructuring, as the current salary grading had been in place since 2016.
He said the DVLA had partnered tertiary institutions such as the University of Ghana (UG), University of Development Studies (UDS) and the University of Cape Coast (UCC) to train and issue driving licence to students while on campus or after graduation.
The Bono Regional Manager of the DVLA, George Okyere, said the DVLA had seen a significant shift in its operations in the last decade with substantial successes.
He said staff of the organisation were not content as emerging challenges, customer dynamics and technological advancement continued to create both opportunities and threats.
Mr Okyere said the review would afford DVLA a chance to take stock of its reforms and strategise to improve its operations.
The experts, which include Andy Akoto, a partner at KPMG, and Kofi Adomakoh, managing director of GCB Bank, believe that the current economic difficulties facing the nation and the world have given it the chance to finally shift its economy from being overly dependent on imports to one that is producing.
“We shouldn’t let a catastrophe this significant go to waste. As Ghanaians, we have a clear chance to band together in an effort to restructure our economy from one that is service-driven to one that is built on technology, finance, investment, trade, and entrepreneurship.
“In essence, an approach that may not require significant capital and yet is more labour intensive to provide the needed employment for our youth – a de-emphasis of our over-reliance on imports as the first stage of industrialization, as well as the initial stage of building for ourselves a resilient economy,” Mr. Adomakoh said in a speech read on his behalf.
He said the success of mobile money payment interoperability has shown that concerted use of technology to drive revenue collection, bring down costs of doing business, as well as breaking down silos across all facets of the economy are some of the ways to build robustness and resilience.
“The domestic financial sector has reaped many of the benefits of technology. Recent digital interventions at the ports, Driver and Vehicle Licencing Authority, Passport Office and the evolution of e-commerce are examples of how technology can help bring about efficiency.
“But there are still more opportunities to explore in the technology and innovation space which can significantly improve our economic life as a nation. Therefore, the design of our economic and structural reforms and domestic revenue mobilisation strategies must increasingly embrace the use of more technology,” he explained.
“The current glaring limited processing capacity for our primary export commodities presents us with an enormous potential for value added services – which today, sadly, remains largely untapped.
“I must say, however, it is heartwarming that the merchandise trade account has recorded surpluses since 2016 and the contribution from non-traditional exports is steadily increasing. Nonetheless, we are faced with a huge call for sustained efforts to do far more, given the worsening current account deficit position,” he added.
“How can we, as economic actors, work together to enhance trade competitiveness of the Ghanaian, and by extension boost our foreign exchange earning capacity? To what extent can the domestic financial sector work with industry and services to increase trade in processed goods and services?” he queried.
For his part, Mr. Akoto-KPMG Partner, said a diverse economy, skilled workforce and the agility of government and stakeholders in responding to economic shocks are some features of a robust and resilient economy.
Despite the present challenges, he said, Global CEOs are confident about prospects of the world economy over the next three years – although nine out of 10 are bracing for a recession, according to the KPMG 2022 CEO Outlook report.
He added that CEOs are largely positive about global economic prospects, but have adjusted or plan to adjust their risk management procedures considering geopolitical risks.
They spoke at the 2022 GEF themed Building a robust ad resilient economy through technology, finance, investment, trade and entrepreneurship. The three-day event from 24th to 26th October 2022 is being organised by the B&FT in partnership with MasterCard, GCB Bank and KPMG.
Gov’t committed to improving credit environment
While acknowledging the challenges faced by businesses and Ghanaians at large, the Minister of Public Enterprises, Joseph Cudjoe, said government remains committed to pursuing policies to improve the credit crunch situation.
He however called on business leaders to rethink how business is done in the current economic climate, emphasising the need for sustainability and long-term value.
