The Director-General of the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA), Abraham Amaliba, has defended plans to shut down garages involved in converting right-hand-drive vehicles to left-hand drive, describing the practice as illegal and dangerous.
Speaking after a Technical Working Committee presented its report in Accra on April 8, 2026, Mr. Amaliba warned that such modifications pose a serious threat to road safety and violate existing laws.
“It’s an illegality. The law doesn’t allow that in the first place. We are going to close down those garages, and if people are still engaged in the practice, we will arrest them,” he stated.
The committee, chaired by Godwin Kafui Ayetor, found that many Toyota Voxy vehicles—originally designed for private family use—are being imported as right-hand-drive and illegally converted for commercial transport.
According to the report, these conversions often involve unsafe structural alterations, including changes to suspension systems and the use of unsuitable tyres, significantly increasing the risk of accidents.
Mr. Amaliba disclosed that the NRSA will collaborate with key state institutions, including the Ghana Standards Authority, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), and the Police Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD), to enforce the directive.
He added that the Authority will also engage transport operators nationwide as part of a broader campaign to sanitise the vehicle conversion sector and improve road safety standards across Ghana.
