All machinery used in mining activities must be registered with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) by August 1, 2025, the Ministry for the Interior has directed.
It warned that equipment that remained unregistered after the deadline would be confiscated by the state.
“The Ghana Police Service and DVLA have been directed to enforce this directive from August 2, 2025, onward rigorously,” a statement signed by the Minister for the Interior, Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, said.
Reform
The move is part of the government’s efforts to reform the mining sector and track the activities of mining entities to help contain illegal mining in the country.
The statement advised the public, especially those who used mining machinery, to take note and comply with the directive.
“The Ministry of the Interior is committed to ensuring internal security and the maintenance of law and order in the country,” it emphasised.
Since assumption of office, the government has taken steps to deal with illegal mining, otherwise known as galamsey, in the country.
In line with that, there have been a series of arrests and the confiscation of machinery.
Earlier in May this year, the government directed owners and operators of excavators to register the equipment with the DVLA within two weeks or have them confiscated by the state.
The Chief Executive Officer of DVLA, Julius Neequaye Kotey, who gave the directive, had said that effective June 1 this year, any unregistered excavator would be confiscated.
Briefing
At a media briefing in Accra, Mr Kotey stressed that after the two-week ultimatum, the police and the DVLA’s operational team would confiscate any excavator at any mining site or in commercial use, which has not been registered with the DVLA.
Additionally, he said, the DVLA, in collaboration with other state agencies such as the Minerals Commission, National Security, the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, and the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, had started registering and tagging all new excavators coming into the country.
“This exercise is to enable the identification of every excavator and equipment that enters the country and to trace their ownership, including their operations, to curb the phenomenon of unregistered excavators and farm equipment in the system, which cannot be tracked for their activities,” he said.
He added that the inter-agency collaboration was meant to facilitate the government’s effort to fight illegal mining.
