A Road Safety advocate has initiated legal action at an Accra High Court against the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) and the National Insurance Company (NIC) over the registration, licensing and insuring of Toyota Voxy vehicles in Ghana.
DVLA is the statutory body established by the DVLA Act 1999 (Act 569) with the mandate to licence and register motor vehicles in Ghana while NIC is responsible for regulating insurance business in Ghana as established by National Insurance Act 2021 (Act 1061).
The action emanates from the plaintiff’s concern over the rising fatality rates involving Toyota Voxy Noah vehicles and public outcry, which compelled the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) to constitute a committee in February to investigate the operational suitability or otherwise and safety concerns of Toyota Voxy Noah vehicles.
The plaintiff, Osei Kwabena Esq. is seeking a declaration that the registration, licensing and issuance of Road Use certificates to Toyota Voxy/Noah vehicles without compliance to section 58 of the Customs Act 2015 (Act 981), Regulation 19(1) of the Road Traffic Regulation, 2012 (L.I.2180) and without Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) prescribed standards is unlawful, null and void.
He is also seeking a perpetual injunction restraining the first and second defendants and their officers and agents from further registering, licensing and issuing or permitting the operation of converted Right Hand Drive (RHD) to left hand drive (LHD) Toyota Voxy Noah vehicles in Ghana till the Ministry of Transport (MOT) issues a White paper or policy direction per a Technical Working Group (TWG) report.
In a 26-point statement of claim filed by counsel for the plaintiff, Yeboah Osei-Kwabena Esq. of Lartey, Badombie & Co. in Accra, the plaintiff avers that Toyota Voxy/Noah vehicle is manufactured by Toyota Tsucho Corporation of Japan solely in RHD configuration for the Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) and does not manufacture a LHD variant of the Toyota Voxy/Noah vehicle.
He argues that all Toyota Voxy/Noah vehicles found in Ghana were originally RHD that have been converted to LHD either locally or elsewhere on the globe. The plaintiff said Toyota Tsucho Corporation had made it abundantly clear that Toyota Voxy/Noah vehicles are built as Japan Domestic Market and certified under Japanese standards and do not hold any additional international certifications.
The statement of claim emphasised that Toyota Voxy/Noah vehicles imported into Ghana and described as LHD are in fact RHD vehicles that have been converted and structurally altered outside.
The plaintiff referred to Toyota Tsucho Corporation’s position to declining requests to perform such conversions even in Completely Knocked Down parts despite substantial demands citing safety concerns as the basis for the refusal.
He said RHD Toyota Voxy/Noah vehicles imported into Ghana are cleared contrary to Customs Act 2015 (Act 981), which states that “A person shall not import a Right-Hand Steering motor vehicles into the country unless approved by the Minister” and stated that the MOT has to date, not granted any such written approvals for converted RHD to LHD or RHD Toyota Voxy/Noah vehicles to be imported into the country.
The plaintiff further referred to Regulation 19(1) of the Road Traffic Regulation, 2012 (L.I. 2180) which states that “A person who owns a motor vehicle shall obtain approval from the Licensing Authority before modifying the motor vehicle”.
A further reference was made to Regulation 19 (2) A and B of the Road Traffic Regulation, 2012 (L.I. 2180) which reads, “Where the owner of a registered motor vehicle (a) changes the use for which the motor vehicle was registered or (b) physically converts the motor vehicle to alter the use of which the motor vehicle was registered, the owner shall within seven days of the conversion, inform the Licensing Authority in the form prescribed by the Licensing Authority and shall pay fees prescribed in the fifth schedule”.
The plaintiff claimed that in spite of these provisions, the DVLA has not exercised the requisite due diligence in the conversion exercise as it does not subject converted vehicles to any special and rigorous scrutiny or enhanced inspection prior to registration.
The Ghana Standard Authority (GSA) has also not prescribed any standards, codes of practice or technical specifications for the RHD to LHD conversion of the Toyota Voxy/Noah vehicles and related motor vehicles nationwide.
It was revealed that the failure of the GSA to provide standards for such conversion has been compounded by National Road Safety Authority’s (NRSA) failure to enforce Regulation 75 of the NRSA Regulation 2022 (L. I. 2468), which requires NRSA to register businesses or persons who provide road-related services, which includes conversions of motor vehicles from RHD to LHD.
The plaintiff also argued that per Regulation 76 of NRSA 2022 (L. I. 2468), the NRSA is required to ensure that only qualified people provide road-related services.
He, however, indicated that due to the systematic regulatory failures of the DVLA, GSA and the NRSA, an environment where unsafe practices flourish has been created without detection, question or sanctions thus directly endangering the travelling public
including himself (plaintiff).
He also pointed out that despite the absences of MOT approval, GSA standards and a White Paper or policy direction, the DVLA continues to register and issue Road Use Certification for converted Toyota Voxy/Noah vehicles in Ghana and that the co-defendant NIC also continues to approve insurance covers for converted Toyota Voxy/Noah vehicles in the country.
The plaintiff, therefore, contends that the actions of the defendants are unlawful because they violate Section 58 of the Customs Act 2015 (Act 981) and Regulations 19(1) 2 (a) and (b) of the Road Traffic Regulation, 2012 (L. I. 2180) emphasising that the registration and insurance of structurally compromised vehicles expose himself (plaintiff) and the general public to grave and irreparable harm including possible loss of life, which cannot be compensated in damages.
He stated that failure of the MOT to issue a White paper or policy direction on the Technical Working Group (TWG) report leaves a regulatory vacuum, which the Honourable court should not allow the defendants to take advantage of at the expense of the plaintiff and the general public.
Having established enough basis for the action in a writ of summons, statement of claims and an affidavit in support, Osei Kwabena Esq., per his lawyer, has filed a motion on notice applying for interlocutory injunction restraining the defendants from registering, licensing and issuing or permitting the operation of converted Right Hand Drive (RHD) to left hand drive (LHD) Toyota Voxy Noah vehicles pending the final determination of the matter before the court which might be moved on August 13, 2026 to determine the reliefs being sought.
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