Accra (Gretaer Accra) July 2026
Some 85 illegally imported vehicles have been impounded due to the introduction of the DVLA’s clone detection system in May this year
This was disclosed by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority, Mr Julius Neequaye Kotey.
According to Mr Neequaye, vehicle cloning is the fraudulent use of the chassis number of a legally imported and registered vehicle to register another vehicle that had been illegally imported, most of which originated from Togo.
Mr Kotey disclosed this a few days ago during a media engagement on the rollout of the new chip-embedded number plate for various categories of vehicles, including motorcycles and tricycles.
These impounded vehicles include various makes of cars, such as saloon cars and sport utility vehicles (SUVs).
Mr Neequaye indicated that the cars have been handed over to the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority for the payment of the required import duties before they can be legally registered.
He said the authority had, over the past month, been screening every vehicle presented for registration with a clone detection device before processing its registration.
“For about a month now, when we began checking the clone aspect of vehicles through a device before registration, we have been able to impound about 80 vehicles. They are handed over to Customs, where owners pay the required duties before returning for registration,” he stated.
Mr Kwasi Bona Otuo Srebour, the Director of Inspection and Registration at the DVLA, expressed concern over the continued misuse of Defective Vehicle (DV) number plates by some motorists.
He explained that DV plates were meant only for moving unregistered vehicles, conducting test drives and transporting vehicles to garages for repairs, but were increasingly being used for routine driving in contravention of the Road Traffic Regulations.
Mr Srebour urged owners of vehicles registered before 2023 to complete the onboarding process, including vehicle inspection, document verification, Ghana Card authentication and the issuance of a certificate of title and registration card.
