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Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia Tuesday launched the new Smart Drivers’ Licence and Smart Vehicle Registration Card, developed by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) to ensure the safety of commuters and enhance national socio-economic development.

To make the system successful, Vice President Bawumia urged the DVLA to offer superior services to the public and ensure optimal financial inclusion so that the majority of the populace could make payment through the electronic payment channels.

He said applicants could obtain their drivers licences within a maximum of two to three weeks, whiles those who applied for the premium services could obtain it within a day.

Vice President Bawumia said this at the launch of the DVLA’s new Smart Drivers Licence and Smart Vehicle Registration Card in Accra, under the theme:”Transforming Driver and Licensing through “People, Processes and Technology”.

The new smart vehicle registration card and drivers’ licence have enhanced security features, which would enable the DVLA to authenticate the identity of users.

Applicants can also apply online after which they would be given a date for testing and this will eliminate the middle-men popularly called “Goro Boys” from the system.

Vice President Bawumia said the introduction of the new products was a clear manifestation of the tremendous efforts put in place by the DVLA in the past few months, to achieve the remarkable feat, adding that, “The two new products shows that the paperless revolution has arrived at the DVLA”

He said road transportation facilitated the movement of people, goods and services in all sectors of the economy, including tourism, trade, mining, education, agriculture, among others, with estimated 98 per cent of passengers and freight traffic in the country being carried by road transportation.

He noted that efficient and effective transport sector would promote poverty alleviation, enhance road safety and engender socio-economic growth.

He said there are many challenges in the transport sector such as fake licences, road worthy stickers, number plates and driving documents, and all these lead to security threats and revenue shortfalls to the government.

He therefore urged the DVLA to institute a credible and secure payment options with several variations to its clients so that the system would be friendlier to the users.

“The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has been categorical about his unwavering desire to see the country’s economy transformed under his leadership and we are working day and night to ensure this happens to the benefit of the people of Ghana, who have reposed their confidence in us,” he said

As part of the transformation agenda, Vice President Bawumia said, the government had set out to transform the economy and that, several initiatives had been taken in that direction, so that every Ghanaian and foreigners living in the country could be identified appropriately and offered unparalleled opportunity to do business.

He mentioned some of the recent initiatives as the National Identification Project, Paperless Port Project, Electronic Procurement at the National Procurement Authority, e-Registration and Certification of businesses at the Registrar General’s Department and the National Digital Property Addressing System, adding that, the country was on course to modernisation.

He said these initiatives were expected to operate collaboratively to ensure the country becomes the friendliest nation of doing business in Africa and beyond.

He said he was looking forward for efficient and sustainable DVLA in the years ahead so that the road transportation sector would witness a huge transformation.

Dr Bawumia said the Authority began adopting digital services a few years ago, which was yielding dividends and entreated other public sector institutions to emulate it to accelerate national development.

“Let me say unequivocally that I fully support any effort to make our public sector efficient, effective and devoid of corruption.

“Indeed, it fits into government’s anti-corruption agenda and I can promise you that the government will get the public sector institutions to make the necessary adjustments, including making electronic payment the default form of receiving taxes, levies and fees,” he assured.

The Vice President noted that in the next decade, the country would witness a complete transformation of Ghana’s driver licensing and vehicle registration system.

“After 60 years of independence, it can no longer be business as usual. We all must roll our sleeves and work to transform our country.

“We owe it a duty to bequeath to the younger generation, a Ghana that we can all be proud of, a Ghana that has enough jobs for its citizens, a Ghana that gives opportunities to its citizens, and a Ghana that is truly the shining star of Africa”.