The Chief Executive of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), Mr. Julius Neequaye Kotey, has held strategic discussions with the Excavator Tracking Team of the Minerals Commission in Accra to explore collaborative efforts in regulating the use of excavators in Ghana’s mining sector.
The high-level meeting, held at the Minerals Commission headquarters, forms part of broader efforts to tackle illegal mining and the environmental degradation associated with the unregulated use of heavy-duty equipment.
This engagement follows the formation of a ministerial task force by the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, mandated to develop a framework for the registration, tracking, and monitoring of excavators nationwide.
During the discussions, the two institutions identified significant gaps in excavator registration. While the Minerals Commission has systems for tracking equipment used by concession holders, many excavators—whether owned by individuals, dealers, or small-scale miners—remain unregistered with the DVLA, despite the Authority being the only body legally mandated to register all vehicles and heavy machinery in the country.
Mr. Kotey emphasized the need to integrate the DVLA’s role into excavator regulation, noting that unregistered equipment poses a major challenge to monitoring and enforcement.
He assured the Commission of the DVLA’s readiness to deploy mobile service teams to mining areas to register all operational excavators, thereby enabling better oversight and control.
In a key policy shift, the DVLA and the Minerals Commission also agreed that, going forward, all excavators imported into the country will be registered at the port of entry before being dispatched to their destinations. This move aims to prevent unregistered excavators from bypassing regulatory processes and proceeding directly to mining sites.
The DVLA boss reiterated the Authority’s commitment to supporting national efforts to safeguard the environment and promote sustainable mining practices.
He emphasized that strong inter-agency collaboration is vital to addressing the challenges posed by illegal mining and equipment misuse.
The meeting was facilitated by Dr. Sylvester Akpah, a Computer Science Engineer from the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), and was attended by members of the DVLA management team and technical staff from the Minerals Commission.
