Public Sector Reforms: Driver’s license backlog at DVLA reduced from 76,000 to 8,000 since 2022 – Osafo-Maafo

Senior Presidential Advisor, Mr. Yaw Osafo-Maafo has disclosed that a backlog of 76,000 unissued licenses has been cleared by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) since 2022.

Addressing a press briefing in Accra on Wednesday, June 19, the former Finance Minister said this has been made possible because of the gains made under the Public Sector Reform for Results Project (PSRRP).

The Government of Ghana (GoG) through the Office of the Senior Presidential Advisor (OSPA) and the Public Sector Reform Secretariat (PSRS), has been implementing the first-ever Public Sector Reform for Results Project (PSRRP) from 2019.

The World Bank provided the PSRRP with a credit facility of US$24 million to cover thirteen (13) Ministries, Departments, and Agencies.

The Project Development Objective was to improve efficiency and accountability in delivering selected services by Selected Entities.

Through the implementation of the project which will come to an end on Thursday, June 20, delivery of services at the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies that benefited have improved significantly.

It is through the project that DVLA has reduced the backlog of 76,000 unprinted driver’s licences to 8,455 as of March 2024.

Briefing the press at the Ministry of Information, Mr. Yaw Osafo-Maafo said all the thirty-three (33) operational offices of DVLA across the country are now offering standard services to clients.

He said through the project, DVLA can now process driver’s licences and register or renew vehicle licences at all operational offices which was initially limited to eleven (11) offices.

He said not only has the working conditions and environment of DVLA in all branches improved but the vehicle registration time has reduced from 6 hours to under 2 hours.

In addition, production of licences has significantly improved from 700 per day to 2,500 per day since 2022.

Thanks to the Public Sector Reform for Results Project, the passport application ecosystem has also improved significantly.

Since August 2023, the Passport Office has been able to process and print about 700,000 passport applications including 100,000 passport application backlogs as against the annual average target of 500,000 printed booklets.

At the press briefing, Mr. Yaw Osafo-Maafo urged all stakeholders to commit to the public sector reforms.

He said it is important for the country to sustain the gains and employ a maintenance culture to harness the full benefits of the modernised and electronic systems that have been put in place

In expressing appreciation to the World Bank for the funding and technical support of the project, he appealed for a second phase on behalf of the government for other institutions to also benefit.