Some drivers in the Ashaiman municipality have expressed joy over the proposal by Vice President Dr Mahamadu Bawumia, the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) flagbearer, to extend the validity of a driver’s license from two years to 10 years.
Dr Bawumia pledged to extend the renewal of the driver’s license from two to 10 years when he addressed party members at Boadua in the Akwatia Constituency in the Eastern region during a campaign tour.
He said the renewal of the driver’s license every two years does not make sense.
“Today, drivers’ licenses expire every two years, and drivers have to go to the DVLA to renew them. Let us extend it to eight or 10 years; let us make sure we can have the driver’s license without having to go through these short-term renewal processes. It does not make sense,” he said.
Reacting to the statement, some drivers told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that the initiative, if implemented, it would help them to save a lot of money and time.
Mr Batang Alhassan, a trotro (commercial minibus) driver, said he believed the initiative would benefit drivers a lot.
This is because the charges paid by drivers to renew their license every two years were sometimes difficult for them due to the car maintenance fee and the high price of spare parts, therefore extending the years would give them enough time to put their monies together, he said
Mr Stephen Asare, another driver, said it felt good to know Dr Bawumia thinks about them by bringing such an initiative.
He said initially, drivers could have their eyes tested at the Driver Vehicle and Licensing Authority (DVLA) offices when renewing their licenses, but now they had to go to an eye clinic for the test, which made the service expensive.
Nii Kortey, a taxi driver, stated that the initiative was good for them and also pleaded with the DVLA to create more awareness on how to access the online license registration at the various bus terminals to reduce congestion at their offices.
He said one of the main reasons why drivers delay the renewal of the licenses was because of the congestion at the DVLA offices.
“Even though the initiative is good, I feel DVLA can make it even better if they train us on how to access their online registration, because one of our main problems is that we stay too long at their office when we go to register or renew the license,” he added.
