Chief Executive Officer of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), Julius Neequaye Kotey, has revealed plans to revolutionize the agency by leveraging technology to enhance service delivery and eliminate corruption.
Speaking on TV3’s Hot Issues, Kotey shared the challenges he inherited and the steps being taken to transform the DVLA into a more efficient and customer-friendly institution.
“We had only one telephone for calls at the DVLA head office when I got into office. We are also going to have a call centre that will attend to customer concerns and complaints,” he disclosed, highlighting the agency’s communication difficulties before his tenure.
Kotey stressed his ambition to make the DVLA more efficient, aiming to reduce the long processing times that have frustrated customers for years.
“I want to build the DVLA where in 15 minutes the customer is served. I want to use technology to solve a lot of the problems,” he stated, underscoring the role of digital transformation in achieving this vision.
However, the DVLA’s challenges go beyond slow service. The CEO admitted that corruption within the institution remains a significant issue, particularly the infiltration of unauthorized middlemen, popularly known as goro boys, who exploit customers seeking licenses and other documentation. Alarmingly, some of these extortionists are insiders.
“We have discovered that some of our own people are part of the ‘goro boys’ who extort money from customers. This is a challenge we are tackling head-on,” he revealed, signaling a firm stance against corruption within the organization.
In a positive development, Kotey announced that the long-standing backlog of unprinted driver’s licenses had been cleared. “The one-and-a-half-year backlog of licences has now been printed,” he confirmed, providing relief to many customers who had been waiting for their documents.
