Eight officials of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) who were captured on the Tiger Eye investigative video as being part of a driver’s licence racketeering network are under investigation.
The eight, are currently on interdiction. They are to face a committee of enquiry constituted by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the DVLA, Mr Rudolph Beckley.
The Chairman of the six-member committee of enquiry, Mr Cheyuo Wienna Musah, told the Daily Graphic that the committee started investigating the affected officials from Thursday.
He said if any of the officials were found culpable after the investigations, they would face dismissal and prosecution.
He declined to give the names of the eight officials, but indicated that the names would be released only after the investigations.
According to Mr Musah, the eight officials, all males, are from the Tema, Tamale, Mampong and Kumasi DVLA offices.
Meanwhile, the DVLA has contacted security agencies to deal with the middlemen or ‘goro boys’ captured on the tape with the DVLA officials.
Actions so far
Mr Musah, who is the Director of the Driver Training, Testing and Licensing Unit, said the DVLA had already invited the eight officials to view the video.
Consequently, he said, the DVLA had issued query letters to the officials to answer why disciplinary actions should not be taken against them.
Mr Musah mentioned the arrest of ‘goro boys’ at the Weija DVLA office near Accra and at the Kumasi DVLA office as some of the actions taken by the authorities of the DVLA since the release of the investigative video.
The management of the DVLA has linked up with the security agencies to conduct series of raids at the various DVLA offices.
Besides, he said, internal security officials of the DVLA had been tasked to clear all people suspected to be ‘goro boys’ from the DVLA premises.
Video distribution
Mr Musah said the DVLA management had printed copies of the video which would be given to all the regional and district managers of the DVLA.
He said the video would also be viewed at a DVLA conference in Koforidua from today, April 25 to Sunday, April 27, 2014.
Terms of reference
The committee of enquiry is to establish the underhand dealings exhibited by the DVLA officials seen in very compromising positions in the video.
It is also to find out the collaboration between the DVLA officials and the ‘goro boys’ in the issuance of fake driver’s licences, road worthy stickers and vehicle registration documents.
Recall
Undercover investigations at the DVLA revealed a licence racketeering network of officials and some deviants who issue licences to unqualified individuals for personal monetary gains.
The 12-month investigations saw the undercover team of Tiger Eye visiting some regional offices of the DVLA to establish the breakdown of the system at the DVLA, making it easy for the team to procure licences for mentally and physically challenged persons, market women, expatriates, among other individuals, without going through the usual rigorous process of acquiring a licence.
Credit: Daily Graphic