Single company contracted by DVLA to produce number plates joins suit blocking introduction of new number plates as defendant
The single entity that was recently contracted by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) to produce number plates for the DVLA in 2026 has been joined as a defendant in the suit filed by the Vehicle Embossment Manufacturers Association of Ghana (VEMAG) and others against the DVLA.
Original Manufacturers and Embossment Company Limited, the company owned by one Nyarko Esumadu Appiah, also known as Daasebre, is now a defendant together with the DVLA in the case in which the Vehicle Embossment Manufacturers Association of Ghana is challenging the decision of the DVLA to discontinue using their services in the production of number plates, but to solely rely on one company.
The Vehicle Embossment Association of Ghana (VEMAG) in December 2025 filed an injunction at the High Court in Accra, asking that the DVLA, should be restrained from rolling out digital or any new vehicle number plate registration system beginning January 2026.
The suit was filed by BEMENCO Embossment Ltd and other plaintiffs, all members of the Vehicle Embossment Association of Ghana (VEMAG).
The injunction application is asking that the DVLA should be restrained from introducing digitalised vehicle number plates or any new registration plates until the court determines the merits of the case.
They are also asking that the DVLA should be prevented from implementing any alternative arrangement for the embossment and supply of vehicle number plates outside the existing framework involving the plaintiffs.
It is their argument that the DVLA had awarded both manufacturing and embossment contracts to a single entity, an act which they termed as unprecedented and contrary to established practice.
They are therefore seeking an order compelling the DVLA to continue engaging licensed embossers for 2026 and beyond.
Joinder
The High Court in Accra, presided over by Justice Isaac Addo, granted the application to join Original Manufacturers and Embossment Company Limited to the suit on Friday, [January 23, 2026], after counsel for the plaintiffs and the DVLA indicated they had no objection.
Counsel for the plaintiffs told the court that they had been served with the application for joinder filed by Original Manufacturers and Embossment Company Limited, with a return date of February 24, 2026.
They explained they were not opposed to the application and prayed the court to abridge the time to allow the motion to be heard immediately.
Counsel for the DVLA, Sigiri Edmund Kadiri, also told the court that the defendant did not oppose the joinder application.
Granting the request, Justice Addo ordered that the application to abridge time for the hearing of the joinder motion be granted.
He said the court had considered the motion papers and affidavit in support an accordingly granted the application and ordered that Original Manufacturers and Embossment Company Limited be joined as the second defendant in the case.
The court also directed the plaintiffs to amend the writ of summons and statement of claim to reflect the joinder.
It further ordered that all processes filed in the suit be served on the newly joined defendant.
The case has been adjourned to February 6, 2026, for further proceedings.
Background
VEMAG and 63 others are challenging the DVLA’s decision to exclude them in the introduction of a digital vehicle number plate embossment system.
The plaintiffs contended that the implementation of the system and the processes leading to its rollout affected their operations and raised concerns about procurement, regulation and participation in the vehicle registration and embossment process.
The DVLA, on its part, maintains that the introduction of the digital number plate system fell within its statutory mandate and was aimed at improving vehicle identification and registration.
Original Manufacturers and Embossment Company Limited is the company involved in the production and embossment of the digital number plates and applied to be joined to the suit on the grounds that the outcome of the case could affect its interest.
