Special Reporter, ACCRA
Minister of Transport, Kweku Ofori Asiamah, has pulled a break on the implementation of the controversial DP Sticker numbering system by the Drivers and Vehicle Licensing Authority’s (DVLA) boss, following accusation that, it had no endorsement from the sector Ministry, Board, the Police among others and above all, poses a national security risk.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Authority, Kwasi Agyeman Busia, is reported to have taken a unilateral decision to roll out the policy this year, without following proper procedure or the involvement of stakeholders, including getting Parliament to repeal sections of the Road Traffic Regulations.
But information picked up by The Herald, revealed that the Transport Minister, wrote a strongly worded letter to the DVLA boss to immediately halt the sticker system and revert to the DP number plates or write to the Transport Ministry, explaining the reason for the new policy to enable the Ministry to go to Parliament to have the law changed.
The order comes amidst a report from the DVLA that a company, had been awarded the contract to do the digitized stickers described as obscure, because they could hardly be seen by anyone much more the police.
Terms and conditions of the transaction, including the cost, company name, address and ownership are yet unknown, except a certain Abebrese of the DVLA being linked to it.
There are also snippets of information, saying a private bank account was opened for the DP stickers deal with the signatories also unknown. It is not clear, how much was realized until the Transport Minister stopped it.
On Monday's January 20, 2020 edition of The Herald, the paper published the tension the decision has generated, leading to a frosty relationship between the Board Chairman of the DVLA, Frank Davies and the CEO, for running a one man show at the state institution.
But reacting to the publication on Accra-based Peace FM on Monday, CEO of Consumer Protection Agency (CPA) Kofi Kapito, who had previously spoken against the new policy through a press conference, revealed that the Minister has stopped the implementation of the policy and commended him for stamping his authority to ensure things were done right.
According to Kofi Kapito, Mr Agyeman Busia, aside unilaterally implementing the new policy, went ahead to open a new bank account different from the main DVLA account without the knowledge of key officials at the Authority, who should have been in the know, saying “Can we sit in Ghana for someone to take us for grant like that?”.
He went on to advice Ghanaians who were charged GHc199 during the period of the implementation of the digitized stickers, to go for a refund of GHc45.
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