The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) says it prioritized digitization to improve its image after a corruption perception index survey revealed that it was the most corrupt institution in the country.

The DVLA was hit by a number of corruption-related reports, including the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) Consortium in 2016 which ranked DVLA as the most corrupt institution in Kumasi Metropolis and Anas Aremeyaw Anas’ corruption expose which revealed some officials involved in various corruption-related offenses.

At a study tour by the Liberia Road Safety Secretariat to learn from Ghana’s road safety management strategies, which brought together relevant stakeholders, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of DVLA, Kwasi Agyeman Busia, disclosed that they conducted their own research to ascertain the veracity of the reports.

He said: “We studied the terrain to understand why we were the most corrupt. We realized there were a lot of inefficiencies, processes, duplications, face-to-face interactions, lack of timeliness, and lots of bureaucracy.”

To that end, Agyeman Busia indicated that the Authority rolled out a strategic plan which was premised on foundational principles including:

• Orienting the minds of its staff and customers
• Adopting a rigorous process
• Leveraging on technology

He expressed the belief that the authority has been able to make a significant impact after three years of applying these principles to improve its image.

For his part, the leader of the six-member delegation from the Liberia Road Safety Secretariat, Hon. J. Darious Kollie, who is also Deputy Minister of Land and Rail Transport, commended Ghana for playing an instrumental role in managing road crashes and added that they will draw lessons from the success stories of the Authority.

He explained that they decided to study DVLA’s model of managing road accidents since it has a correlation with the management of road safety in Liberia.

The Deputy Minister of Land and Rail Transport indicated that they have developed a five-year strategic plan on road safety management which is also in sync with international best road safety management practices.

As such, he noted: “The Ghanaian road safety plan shares a lot of commonalities, but what makes it better is that you (DVLA) have done a lot that we have not done. So we are looking forward to seeing some of the big steps you have taken, some of the progress you have made, and how we can all do it better.”

The Acting Director of the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA), David Adonteng, underscored the critical role DVLA plays as a first point of call to road safety management, indicating that all other agencies in road safety management play complementary roles.

He said collaborative efforts to manage road safety, including organizing intensive public campaigns, has led to a drastic reduction in road crashes.