Man arrested for impersonating learner driver
A 29-year-old man who attempted to do a driving test for a learner driver in Accra has been handed over to the police by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA).
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Raphael Tetteh, 29, a physiotherapist, who took the test on behalf of a learner, was arrested on Monday by the police after he was exposed by a DVLA driving instructor.
The Accra Regional Manager of the DVLA, Mr Noah Tetteh Matey, told the Daily Graphic that Raphael reported at the DVLA office near the 37 Military Hospital in Accra for the driving test under false pretence that he was Tipong Annor Kumi, the learner driver.
He said the dexterity with which Raphael was driving the car, during the test, raised the suspicion of the driving instructor.
The suspicion, he added, was heightened because Kumi’s records showed that he failed the driving test in his first attempt a few months earlier.
Mr Matey said the instructor, therefore, asked Raphael his name, and he mentioned the name on the form but was unable to get the date of birth right.
When interrogated further, Raphael admitted that he was not the owner of the documents and that he stood in for his friend, Kumi.
Caution
Mr Matey said the DVLA had been hinted about the existence of a network that did driving tests for learners, hence the heightened vigilance of the Authority’s instructors.
He warned that the DVLA, with the support of the police, would arrest and prosecute anybody found to be impersonating a learner driver.
“It is a form of a ring that wants to beat our intelligence. We got wind of it and we also strategised, and it has paid off.
“Those with the ideas of impersonating either for the computer-based exam, road signs test or in-traffic test, should discard that idea because they will be arrested and the law will take its course,” he warned.
Confession
When the Daily Graphic later caught up with him at the Airport Police Station, Raphael said Kumi passed the written test and the road traffic signs test, but failed in the in-traffic test a few months ago.
He claimed that Kumi failed because the driving school that he attended did not help him as they left him to his fate.
Raphael said he then took it upon himself to coach his friend as to how he could pass the driving test and secure the driving licence.
He said Kumi asked him to stand in for him for the driving test because he was leaving for work.