A major policy dispute has erupted between the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) and the Vehicle Embossment Association of Ghana (VEMAG) over the planned nationwide introduction of a new digitalised vehicle number plate system in January 2026.
In a strongly worded petition issued on Monday, VEMAG has called on the Ministry of Transport to immediately halt the implementation of the new number plate regime, citing what it describes as a complete lack of stakeholder consultation, poor planning on the part of the DVLA, and looming job losses for over 3,000 Ghanaian workers.
According to VEMAG, the DVLA is attempting to roll out the new plates without involving the Association, despite the organisation having served as Ghana’s sole number plate embossers since the colonial era.
For decades, VEMAG members have pre-financed the production of every number plate the DVLA sells to the public, only receiving payment after government revenue has been accounted for.
The Association argues that the DVLA’s failure to involve them in planning has thrown the entire 2026 plate embossment schedule into disarray.
Under normal circumstances, embossment work for the next year would have begun in November, but members say they currently have no information on how the planned changeover will occur.
“Management is ill-prepared due to poor handling of the transition process,” VEMAG stated, adding that the DVLA now finds itself “in a dilemma” because of the disrupted timetable.
Foreign Companies and Unproductive Trips Alleged
VEMAG further alleges that the DVLA Chief Executive Officer has invited foreign companies and undertaken foreign trips in a hasty attempt to secure partners for the new digitised plates — efforts the Association says have produced “no fruitful results”.
VEMAG maintains that the DVLA would have avoided such expenses had it consulted the Association, which it considers the Authority’s primary stakeholder.
The group dismisses the DVLA CEO’s claim that other countries do not allow private companies to emboss number plates, describing the statement as “false”.
VEMAG cites the United Kingdom, the United States, and Nigeria as examples where private embossers operate legally.
The Association also points to provisions in Ghana’s Road Traffic Act which explicitly authorise the DVLA to engage private entities for vehicle plate embossment.
Jobs at Risk
The petition raises alarms that the entry of foreign companies into the system could result in the displacement of more than 3,000 Ghanaian workerscurrently employed in the embossment sector.
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VEMAG insists that while it welcomes technological upgrades and digitalisation, such transformations must be done in a manner that protects local jobs and ensures smooth implementation.
The Association says it is ready to embrace reforms, including training, workshops, and capacity building, provided they are coordinated transparently and collaboratively.
Concerns About ‘DVLA Mafia’ Allegation
VEMAG is also urging the Ministry to investigate comments made by the DVLA CEO on national television, alleging that three individuals in the embossment business operate a so-called “DVLA Mafia” controlling 154 companies.
The Association notes that the DVLA officially recognises fewer than 50 embossing companies, and therefore finds the allegation highly questionable.
The group wants the Ministry to probe the claim and remove any illegal operators from the system if they indeed exist.
Calls for a Six-Month Suspension
VEMAG is requesting that the government suspend the digital number plate rollout for at least six months to allow time for proper consultation, planning, and a coordinated national transition.
The petition concludes with an appeal to the Minister for Transport and the DVLA Chief Executive to “not rush” the process but to collaborate with VEMAG in the interest of national stability, efficiency, and job security.
FULL STATEMENT
DATE: 01-12-25
PRESS RELEASE TO ALL MEDIA HOUSES
(For Immediate Release)
VEMAG PETITION MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT TO HALT THE PROCESS OF CHANGING NUMBER PLATES UNTIL PROPER CONSULTATIONS HAVE TAKEN PLACE BETWEEN STAKEHOLDERS
DVLA management in Dilemma Over Proposed Change of Ghana’s Vehicle Number Plates coming January 2026.
The DVLA’s plans to change old Vehicle number plates to new digitalized number plates by January 2026 seem to have hit a stumbling block because the DVLA, in planning the programme, had failed to consult with its major stakeholder, the Vehicle Embossment Association of Ghana (VEMAG).
VEMAG, since the introduction of vehicles in the country by the British Colonial Administration, has been the sole Embosser of vehicle number plates in the country.
VEMAG, every year, pre-finance every single number plate the DVLA sells to the Ghanaian public and only pays members after the DVLA has sold and made a profit for the Government.
VEMAG, as a law-abiding organisation. In spite of pre-financing a Government activity, VEMAG pays its Taxes regularly and never defaults. It is, therefore, unconceivable for anyone to think of denying 3,000 plus employees of VEMAG their livelihood in preference to friends and cronies.
After the DVLA Chief Executive Officer’s announcement on national Television in April 2025 that the DVLA would change the country’s old vehicle number plates to new digitalized number plates in January, the DVLA seems to have run into difficulties because the management is ill-prepared due to poor handling of the transition process.
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It is for this reason that the Vehicle Number Plates Embossers Association (VEMAG), is petitioning the Minister for Transport to halt the programme to prevent any confusion and embarrassment to the DVLA come January next year.
In normal times, the DVLA, in conjunction with VEMAG, should, by November 2025, be embossing the number plates for January 2026, but due to poor planning and lack of consultations, the DVLA finds itself in a dilemma as the timetable for the Embossment of number plates for 2026, is thrown out of gear and VEMAG unsure of what is going to happen in January 2026.
There is currently uncertainty among members of VEMAG due to lack of information on the changeover.
The suspension of the new digitalised number plates foe at least six (6) months, will give the DVLA and VEMAG more time to plan and properly execute the changeover.
VEMAG is also calling on the Minister of Transport to oblige the DVLA Chief Executive Officer to hold a consultative meeting with VEMAG on the issue, for the two, to find a common path for a successful transition from the old number plates to the new digitised plates.
Information available to VEMAG indicates that the DVLA in its haste to implement the new digitalised number plates arrangement, the Chief Executive Officer had invited some foreign companies and had also embarked on some foreign trips, all of which had not yield any fruitful result, a situation he could have avoided and saved Ghana some foreign exchange if he had consulted VEMAG, the DVLA’s major stakeholder.
One of the reasons given by the DVLA Boss for the expected change in 2026, was that nowhere in the world are vehicle number plates embossed by private companies, an assertion which has turned out to be false because in the United Kingdom (UK), the country that introduced the system into Ghana, the United States of America (USA), a key Economic partner of Ghana and even in our neighbouring Nigeria, vehicle number plates are embossed by private companies.
According to Ghana’s Road Traffic Act, the Act states clearly that the DVLA shall engage private businesses to emboss vehicle number plates in the country.
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VEMAG strongly believe that the DVLA is seeking to introduce foreign companies into the system just to deny over 3,000 plus Ghanaians of their livelihood because the foreign participation will only mean one thing, rendering over 3,000 embossment workers throughout the country, unemployed.
Technology is fast catching up with every facet of business in the country, and VEMAG understand the DVLA’s desire to see the Embossment of number plates enhanced technologically to suit modern trends.
VEMAG also recognises the modernisations taking place around the world due to computers and digitalisation of business structures, and is willing to enhance its knowledge and that of its employees if the DVLA/MOT, in seeking to appraise official structures, could, from time to time, organise seminars and workshops for Embossers to upgrade their knowledge in vehicle numbering.
Currently, there are doubts with the proposed change of the country’s vehicle number plates because the DVLA’s assurance to cooperate with VEMAG at a meeting in 2021 at its Head Office to consult the Association before undertaking any changes doesn’t seem to be what the DVLA is doing because since the announcement by its Chief Executive Officer in April this year, there hasn’t been any consultations between the DVLA and VEMAG.
VEMAG is therefore calling on the Minister for Transport and the Chief Executive Officer of the DVLA not to rush with the proposed changeover of the country’s number plates but liaise with VEMAG in a gradual process to make the transition successful for the country and the people of Ghana.
VEMAG is also appealing to the MOT/DVLA to urgently investigate an allegation made on national television by the DVLA Boss that some three (3) individuals within the Embossment business, have constituted themselves as the DVLA “Mafia” and between them have 154 companies.
VEMAG finds it difficult to believe that apart from the DVLA’s officially permitted companies that are not more than 50 companies, there should be, on the blind side of the DVLA, 154 companies illegally operating as Embossers.
This assertion by the DVLA Boss has become a head arc for members of VEMAG, hence the Association’s appeal to the Minister to investigate and remove those 154 companies from their list of companies operating as Embossers in the country.
Signed….
Victor Twum Koranteng (0553694469)
Secretary
Patric Boamah Odoom (0243686515)
PRO
Benjamin Mensah (0244807358)
VEMAG Member
Emmanuel Boateng (0242247083)
VEMAG Member
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