Vehicle registration plates of Ghana
Ghanaian vehicle registration plates indicate the place (Region) where the vehicles bearing them were registered. Ghana has no restrictions on the use of number plates in the various regions - a vehicle registered in the Ashanti Region can be used in the Brong-Ahafo Region and vice versa; Unlike other parts of the world where it is required to re-register a vehicle when it goes to a different city or county with the national boundaries.
A vehicle can be re-registered or a new license plate acquired under the following conditions:
- Vehicle bears a government registration plate and is being transferred to a civilian.
- Vehicle bears a diplomatic plate and is being transferred to a non-diplomat.
- Vehicle has a personalized plate and is being transferred to a new owner.
Format
The current Ghanaian number plate format has been in use since January, 2009; Ghanaian vehicle license plates consist of a two-letter region code, followed by a 4-digit numeric and a 2-digit year code. The 2-letter region code indicates the region in which the vehicle was registered; the 4-digit numeric code is the unique item one can find on a Ghanaian number plate - the digits show the number of vehicles registered in the Region in which the vehicle was registered. The year code also tells one the exact year in which the vehicle was registered. For instance, the 2567th vehicle registered in the Ashanti Region in the year 2012, will bear the number plate AS 2567-12.
The 4-digit numeric code is regarded as unique because there can be hundreds of say Mitsubishi Lancer that have the same colour, registered in one Region and in the same year but the 4-digit, which indicates the number of vehicles registered, will help distinguish between those identical vehicles.
The 2-letter region code is the combination of the first letter from the name of the Region, and the letter ' R ' which denotes Region; however, 4 of the 10 regions in Ghana: Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo, Upper East and Upper West do not have the letter ' R ' as part of their region code.
Below are the codes for the various regions in Ghana
AS = Ashanti Region *
BA = Brong-Ahafo Region*
CR = Central Region
ER = Eastern Region
GR = Greater Accra Region
NR = Northern Region
UE = Upper East Region*
UW = Upper West Region*
VR = Volta Region
WR = Western Region
NB Regions with asterisks are those that do not have the letter R as part of their region code.
"The Ghana Armed Forces, Ghana Police, Fire Service and the Ghana Prisons Service have special codes on their number plates - GA, GP, FS and PS are used for the Ghana Army, Ghana Police, Fire Service and the Ghana Prisons respectively. (e.g. GP 5 for Ghana POlice or PS 33 for Prisons Service)
Numbering
The numbering starts from 1 to 9999 thus the first vehicle registered in the Central Region in the year 2009, will bear CR 1 -09 and the last vehicle [in the same year, 2009] will bear CR 9999 -09.
Supplementary Plates
In the Ashanti and Greater Accra Regions, many vehicles are registered every year so, the Driver Vehicle License Authority (DVLA, the body responsible for vehicle registration in Ghana) provides supplementary plates for these two regions - AW and AE are the supplementary for Ashanti Region; GT, GN, GS, GC,GW,GE,GX, GL, GM, GY are the supplementary for the Greater Accra Region
Types of Vehicle Registration Plates
There are several types of vehicle registration plates in Ghana - black print on a white background (for private vehicles), black print on a yellow background (for commercial vehicles), green print on a white background (for agricultural equipment such as tractor) white print on a red background (for diplomats), white print on a blue background (for Motorcycles ONLY).
Vehicles with Special Mark(Personal or Customized Plates)
The DVLA refer to vehicles with personalised or customised plates as Vehicles with Special Mark; according to an expert in automobile, MR. Terrence Atta-Sonno, "depending on how the plates are easy to read and decipher, the message captured on a personalised plate could either make the observer smile, ffrown, shake their heads or give the thumbs-uup, depending on the degree of agreement with the message they see". It ccosts one a whopping GH¢3,000 ($1333) to get his or her preferred phrase, text or name on his or her vehicle's plate.
The popular Ghanaian Rapper, Actor and Songwriter, kKwame Nsia Apau who is better-known byy his stagenames: ɔkyeame Kwame and Rap Doocta has his Pontiac Aztek registered as RAP DR 1 Z (the car was registered in 2008), the Highlife maestro, Amakye Dede has SERIOUuS 1 – 11 on the number plate of his black Range Rover Sport and he says "Serious is my stage name that is the only reason why I customised my car by that name".
The Member of Parliament (MP) for AAssin Central [in the Centrall Region of Ghana], Hon. Kennedy Agyapong, has registered his Rolls Royce Phantom as KEN 50 -10.
Government Plates
The current number plate for government vehicles has been in use since January 6, 2014 when a vehicle re-registration exercise for government vehicles was started by the Ministry of Road and Transport. A statement signed by the Transport Minister, Dziva Aku Attivor reads "this is to ensure a judicious application of Government expenditure specifically on the utilization of government vehicles in Ghana as part of Government desire to prudently manage public resources"
