DVLA interdicts 13, sacks 3 others

Thirteen staff of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) have been interdicted and three others have had their appointments terminated due to staff indiscipline, the Board Chairman of the authority, Frank Davies, has disclosed.

He said the board would not shield anyone who breached the authority's disciplinary code, and urged staff to live above reproach and put up behaviour worthy of emulation.

He said while the DVLA had made commendable advancements in streamlining services and reducing processing times, there were still challenges such as delays in printing driving licences, attitudinal issues on the part of some staff, increasing cases of indiscipline and bad behaviour.

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”.

Innovative solutions

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.

Electric vehicles

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.

Significant

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.

Writer’s email: biiya.ali@graphic.com.gh