The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) has called on the general public to cooperate with it to effectively discharge its duties to ensure safety on the roads.

“Road safety is a collective responsibility and needs the effective participation and support of the public especially road users and people who own vehicles”.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Bolgatanga, Mr Mutawakil Abdulai, the Acting Regional Manager of the Upper East Regional DVLA, said when road users particularly vehicle and motorbike users correctly registered their vehicles, the numerous road crashes recorded on the roads would be drastically reduced.

Mr Abdulai stated that several announcements over the radio, education and sensitisation had been carried out to engage the public on the negative effects of using unregistered or unlicensed vehicles but many still refused to register their vehicles.

Due to this bad attitude by some road users to adhere to the road directives, the Acting Regional Manager said his outfit had collaborated with the Custom Exercise and Preventive Service (CEPS) and the Ghana Police Service (GPS) over the years to carry out operations geared towards intercepting vehicles which had not been registered or licensed but were being used.

“We do not have the mandate to arrest anybody who faults the directives, the constitution does not give us that power and we do not take your vehicle forcibly, but we defend ourselves. We stop and inspect vehicles and the situation does not cause any inconvenience on the road especially on the urban roads. This is the reason why we partner the Customs and Police in our operations in case there is resistance in the process”, Mr Abdulai added.

“In every operation, we do not seize more than 80 vehicles especially motorbikes and people come to meet the necessary requirements before their motorbikes are given to them.”

He urged vehicle owners to have them licensed and all expired registrations renewed on time.

He said “every year the government gives us revenue targets and we get our revenue through the Licensing and Vehicle registration duties, renewal duties, replacement duties, road worthy and legal issues that we render to clients.”

The Acting Regional Manager said the agency operated in an open and friendly environment where licenses were issued to clients with no stress and urged vehicle owners to report to the police anytime they lost their number plates.

He said that would help the security agencies apprehend and deal effectively with fraudsters who steal people’s motorbikes or number plates to commit crimes.

The DVLA under the Ministry of Transport and other legal backings such as the Road Traffic Act, 2004 (Act 683) and Traffic Regulations Act, 2012 (LI 2180) is mandated to register and issue licenses to all vehicles operating in the country as well as issue road worthy certificates to road users to ensure that there is sanity on the road and security ensured.