Ghanaian vehicle number plates have been using the current system since January 2009, which features a two-letter region code, followed by a four-digit numeric code, and a two-digit year code. But the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) has said it will abolish displaying the year of registration on vehicle number plates from January 1, 2026.
The new system, according to the Chief Executive of the DVLA, Julius Neequaye Kotey will instead only identify vehicles by the region in which they were registered for example “Greater Accra” written on top of the plate, followed by the vehicle’s unique four-digit number and a code showing the zone within which the vehicle was registered.
For example, a vehicle registered within the Adenta zone in Greater Accra will have “AD” code at the end of the four-digit unique number, replacing where the year of registration, for example, “25” would have been displayed.
Mr Julius Neequaye Kotey disclosed this during a television interview with Channel One TV on the programme Face to Face aired on Tuesday, August 19, 2025, and monitored by Graphic Online.
He said the change will introduce regional names at the top of plates, followed by area codes showing which DVLA office processed the registration.
According to Mr Kotey, Ghana is the only country in the world that displays the year of registration on vehicle plates.
“There is no country in the world that puts year at the end [of the plate],” he said.
“When you go to the US, the UK or Germany, there is no single country that does this,” he said.
Under the new system, a Greater Accra plate would display “Greater Accra” at the top, with “GR 2224-AD” below, where GR represents Greater Accra Region and AD shows the Adenta office. An Ashanti Region plate would bear “Ashanti” on top and follow the format “AS 3520-KM”, with AS for Ashanti and KM representing Kumasi.
“Every region will have the name on top of it,” Mr Kotey explained. “So Greater Accra, the region code of Greater can be GR. After that, where the year of registration used to be, will now be the area code.”
When asked if the reform would make it easier to trace vehicles involved in crimes, Mr Kotey said specific plate identification was more effective than year-based descriptions.
“If you tell me someone has done a hit and run and the car is 2025 registered, there are a lot of 2025 cars in the system. How will I know the car? If you give the exact number, it is easier for DVLA to identify the person.”
Mr Kotey said the change is also aimed at curbing registration avoidance, which he said has resulted in many people opting to use the “DV” plates for private use and driving in town.
“Because of the year, some people are unwilling to register their cars,” he said.
According to him, this is to help prevent and limit the use of “DV” [Defective Vehicle] plates in the system, which ordinarily is supposed to be used by car dealers for specific reasons, when they only need to move the vehicle to a specific location for repairs or for a test drive for a potential buyer.
However, he said many private individuals are reluctant to register their vehicles and have been resorting to the use of DV plates all year round.
The implementation of the new proposal requires parliamentary approval to amend Legislative Instrument 68, which governs the Road Traffic Regulation. “We’ve done all the legal work. We need to amend LI 68, the road traffic regulation, and parliament is ready to approve it for implementation from January 2026,” Mr Kotey said.
He also advised vehicle owners not to delay registering their vehicles, expecting year-specific plates. “If you want to buy a car this year and leave it till [registration in 2026] so that you have 26 written on it in January, forget it, you won’t get it. Whether your car is 2022 registered or 2001 registered, we will all have the same format.”
The change forms part of new DVLA initiatives under Mr Kotey’s leadership.
He, however, did not give details on how this will help prevent or resolve a possible conflict of duplicate number plates appearing on vehicles registered in different years from the same region and zone.
Except that, he stressed that the new move was to discourage people from refraining from registering their vehicles because sometimes they are looking at resale value, depending on the year of registration.
A vehicle with a latest year of registration plate in Ghana tends to have a higher resale value than those with older years.
But for such vehicle owners, Mr Kotey said the DVLA was going to introduce an option where they can purchase “DV” plates for use within a year but it will be offered at an expensive price different from what is offered to vehicle dealers.
History of number plates in Ghana
Before 2009, Ghana used different license plates that included a two-letter code indicating the region and a single letter at the end to denote the year of registration.
It was in 1994 that the single letter code and a numeric code was used, before phasing it out in 2009 when the single alphabet code got to “Z”.
For example, GR for Greater Accra and P as the year of registration 1998, Q for 1999, R for 2000, S for 2001, T for 2002, U for 2003, V for 2004, W for 2005, X for 2006, Y for 2007 and Z for 2008.
When the decision was taken in 1994 to change the plates, all vehicles in the system were re-registered within three years from 1994 to 1997, from “A,” “B,” “C,” “D” to “N” in 1997. Then the “P” started from 1998 and “Q” in 1999.
Below is the regional codes that are already in the system and are being used
Below are the codes for the various regions in Ghana;
AC, AE, AK, AP, AS, AW = Ashanti Region
BA, BR, BW = Bono Region
BT = Bono East Region
CR = Central Region
EN, ER, ES = Eastern Region
GB, GC, GE, GG, GH, GL, GM, GN, GT, GS, GW, GX, GY = Greater Accra Region
NR = Northern Region
UE = Upper East Region
UW = Upper West Region
VA, VD, VR = Volta Region
WR, WT = Western Region
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Doga Makiura (Left) in a handshake with President John Dramani Mahama (Right)
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