Goro Boys now write licencing exams for applicants
Middle men popularly referred to as “Goro Boys” who operate illegally at the offices of the various Driver, Vehicle and Licencing Authority (DVLA) across the country now impersonate applicants and write the computerised licensing exams for a fee.
Advertisement
This is according to the Director in charge of Driver, Training, Testing and Licencing at the DVLA, Mr Cheyou Wienna Musah.
The introduction of the electronic licence regime by the DVLA was to discourage the activities of these men who were often alleged to have been at the centre of issuing fake drivers licenses to the unsuspecting public at exorbitant costs.
With that limiting their influence in the issuing processes, they have adopted modalities to assist would-be applicants who failed the computerised tests at a first trial by charging them fees to enable them write and pass the exams for them.
As such, officials of the Authority have installed close circuit television cameras (CCTVs) at the various examination rooms in its operational areas across the country to ensure that only qualified applicants partake in the licensing exams.
Mr Musah disclosed this in an interaction with the Media Network of the ECOWAS Community Development Programme (ECOWAS CDP) in Accra.
Enticement
According to him, individuals who had written the computer test exams more than once and failed were often enticed by these middle men to part with monies to enable them write and pass the exams on their behalf.
“Many applicants also fearing to be arrested by the police for non-possession of licence are therefore forced to part with huge sums of monies to these middlemen”, Mr Musah explained.
He indicated that while these middlemen often succeeded in getting genuine licences for some drivers, the Authority has identified that many illiterate drivers were in possession of licences with no requisite knowledge of road signs.
“Many prospective applicants also do not go through the mandatory eye test, since these middlemen do these on their behalf”, Mr Musah lamented.
Voice Questionnaires
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Authority, Mr Noble John Appiah also hinted that following the introduction of the driving school concept into the licence acquisition process, the Authority in its short term strategies aimed at ensuring only persons who sat and passed the mandatory exams were issued with the licences.
The computerised exams are also to be conducted in various local languages to afford drivers with little or no knowledge of the English language to be able to understand the questions and use thumbprints to select the correct answers.
“We are not saying people must have basic knowledge in English language before being issued with licences. We just want people to appreciate that, driving is a profession and must be practiced as such”, he said.
Manual Stickers
Responding to recent media reports about the DVLA spending some $4 million on manual roadworthy stickers which had since been abandoned, Mr Appiah denied the assertions.
According to him, the amount involved in the printing of those stickers was GHC1.8 million.
“The stickers have not been abandoned completely, rather, they came at the time the electronic stickers were introduced and the manual were being faced out. We are currently updating the security and safety features on them so they could be used for government vehicles”, Mr Appiah explained.
He expressed worry that sections of the media that put out the story on the manual roadworthy stickers failed to contact the Authority to ascertain the conditions of the stickers.
“As media people, you do a disservice to the public if all you are interested in publishing is conjectures and half-truths”, Mr Appiah counselled.
Refund from Foto-X
Answering queries in relation to an excess money of GH¢18 million paid by the Authority to a private printing firm, Foto-X for the printing of licenses, Mr Appiah said the issue was being handled by the Attorney General (AG), and the Authority was yet to receive a formal communication from the AG in relation to the refund.
Writer’s email: [email protected]
