‘Are you not DVLA boss?’ – PAC chair, DVLA boss clash over new number plate security features

A tense exchange erupted during the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) sitting today when Chairperson Abena Osei Asare questioned the Chief Executive of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), Julius Neequaye Kotey.

This was in relation to plans to digitise personal information on the authority’s proposed digital number plates.

The confrontation began after the DVLA boss explained that the new number plates would include Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips as part of enhanced security features, making it “very difficult for external entities to tamper with or replicate” them.

“You don’t expect me to ask you that question? Are you not the DVLA Boss?”

— The Chairperson of the public accounts committee, Hon. Abena Osei Asare clashes with the DVLA Boss, over his response in relation to whether names would be included on authority’s proposed number plates… pic.twitter.com/OdZCQETRZW

— SIKAOFFICIAL (@SIKAOFFICIAL1) October 27, 2025

However, the PAC Chair raised concerns about potential privacy breaches, asking whether the new plates would display vehicle owners’ surnames.

“Because in putting out somebody’s security out there, a bad person can also get hold of that,” she said, pressing for clarity on what data would appear on the new plates.

In response, Mr. Kotey said the DVLA would comply with Ghana’s Data Protection Law, explaining that the new system would “digitalise existing information without altering the basic format.”

When asked directly whether surnames would appear on number plates, he replied, “It depends on what the law says; we’ll go by it.”

That response drew a sharp reaction from the PAC Chair, who retorted, “You don’t tell me it depends on what the law says.”

“You are doing it. So you should be able to tell us that the law says ABCD. I’m asking a specific question: is it going to have the user’s surname on the number plate?”

Mr. Kotey eventually clarified that “we don’t put names on number plates,” prompting another challenge from the Chair, who pointed out that personalized number plates with names already exist in Ghana.

“People pay to have their names on number plates, and you sit here as the DVLA boss to tell me you don’t put names on number plates? That’s not accurate,” she said.

The exchange grew heated when the Chair accused the DVLA boss of suggesting that her question was unwarranted.

Mr. Kotey later withdrew the comment, explaining that he only meant that “regular number plates do not include names unless issued as personalized plates.”

The PAC Chair accepted the withdrawal but maintained that the Committee’s questions were driven by public interest, emphasizing the need for transparency about the new digital number plate system and its security features.

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