The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) has registered more than 7,700 excavators under a new initiative aimed at improving the identification and tracking of the machines operating in Ghana.
Chief Executive Officer Julius Neequaye Kotey disclosed this at the Government Accountability Series at the Jubilee House on Monday, October 12, 2026, saying the exercise was being carried out in collaboration with the Minerals Commission to address a gap in the monitoring of excavators entering the country.
“Before assuming office, there had been no means of registration of excavators coming into the country,” Mr Kotey said.
He explained that excavators previously arrived in Ghana, were cleared through the ports and transported to operational locations without a dedicated registration mechanism to support their identification and tracking.
According to him, the collaboration with the Minerals Commission had provided a platform for registering the machines, with more than 7,700 already captured under the exercise.
The initiative is expected to strengthen oversight by making it easier to identify excavators and improve the availability of records on equipment operating across the country.
Mr Kotey said the registration drive formed part of wider efforts to modernise the DVLA’s systems and improve regulatory compliance.
He also highlighted the acquisition of On-Board Diagnostics devices to identify suspicious vehicles, the introduction of tamper-proof dealer’s plate stickers and plans for RFID-enabled number plates as measures intended to strengthen identification, improve enforcement and protect public revenue.
