Every morning across Accra, thousands of commuters squeeze into commercial minibuses whose conditions often raise a disturbing question before the journey even begins: how exactly did this vehicle pass inspection?
From leaking roofs patched with plastic and tape to rust-eaten floors, broken seats, dangling doors and exposed metal interiors, many of the city’s ageing trotros continue to display valid roadworthy stickers issued by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority.
Yet despite their visible deterioration, these vehicles remain legally cleared to transport millions of passengers daily through Ghana’s capital.
The contradiction is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
For passengers navigating flooded floors during rainfall, inhaling exhaust through damaged body panels or sitting inches away from exposed corroded metal, the issue is no longer simply about public transport inconvenience. It is becoming a growing question about road safety enforcement, regulatory credibility and whether Ghana’s vehicle inspection system is measuring true passenger safety or merely processing renewals.
The incidents, which have surged as Accra enters its peak rainy window between May and June, have ignited a sharp public debate about the fitness of commercial minibuses, locally known as trotro, that ferry an estimated 70% of Ghana’s commuting population daily.
In some terminals and loading bays across Accra, drivers have taken to providing what can only be described as “premium weather solutions”; headpans, plastic chairs, and plastic bags for passengers to cover themselves during trips, a makeshift arrangement that many commuters describe as deeply humiliating and wholly inadequate.
A Lucrative Sector Built On Ageing Infrastructure
The trotro industry’s structural deficiencies stand in sharp contrast to its economic weight. The sector is estimated to employ hundreds of thousands of Ghanaians both directly and indirectly, spanning drivers, conductors, vehicle owners, mechanics, fuel station attendants, and the informal traders who populate every major terminal in the country. GPRTU-affiliated operators account for the majority of passenger movements across both inter-city and intra-city routes, making the trotro not merely a transport option but the de facto backbone of Ghana’s urban mobility.
Yet despite this scale, the trotros that form this backbone are often refurbished second-hand minibuses, imported from Europe and Asia and converted for commercial use, with many operating well beyond their serviceable lifespan. Enforcement of vehicle safety standards has remained chronically weak, with many minibuses poorly maintained and operating in conditions that consistently exceed permitted limits.
The DVLA Question
At the centre of the public outcry is a pointed question: how are vehicles in this condition passing the DVLA’s roadworthiness inspections, and how are they continuing to receive renewal stickers year after year?
The DVLA’s mandate, established under Act 569 of 1999, is to promote good driving standards and ensure the use of roadworthy vehicles on Ghana’s roads, a mandate that, critics argue, is being honoured more on paper than in practice.
The Authority has previously acknowledged the enforcement challenge. Mr. Jerry Afablo, Ashanti Regional DVLA Director, has confirmed that drivers are known to remove illegal modifications before inspections and reinstall them afterwards, a pattern that industry observers say extends beyond seat configurations to include temporary patching of structural defects before certification assessments.
The Ghanaian Chronicle has previously questioned how vehicles are passing roadworthiness tests, and whether the DVLA is renewing licences for vehicles that clearly do not meet established safety criteria, noting that the silence and inaction from the DVLA and the Motor Traffic and Transport Department not only embolden transport operators but suggest a troubling compromise of public safety.
The DVLA had not responded to requests for comment at the time of publication.
“A Leadership Failure, Not Just A Transport Failure”
Commentary from transport analysts and civic voices has grown increasingly pointed. A recent piece in the Graphic Online described Ghana’s trotro crisis as not merely “a transport failure” but “a leadership failure” and “a moral failure”, noting that the commuters bearing the brunt of degraded fleet conditions are overwhelmingly low- and middle-income workers who have no viable alternative.
The piece drew sharp attention to the paradox of enforcement: that police officers who stop private motorists for minor infractions routinely allow heavily deteriorated commercial vehicles carrying twenty or more passengers to continue operating without intervention.
The Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), for its part, has consistently cited rising operating costs as the primary constraint on fleet maintenance. Mr. Abass Ibrahim Moro, the GPRTU’s Public Relations Officer, has acknowledged that operators are aware of vehicle modifications and attributed the broader problem to economic limitations, adding that the union lacks adequate knowledge of the long-term health impacts of deteriorated vehicle conditions on passengers.
Commuter Anxiety Mounts As Season Deepens
For the thousands of workers who rely on trotros to commute between Accra’s suburbs and its commercial districts, the rainy season has introduced a new calculation into their morning routines: whether to leave earlier to avoid peak downpours, pay premium fares for ride-hailing alternatives they can scarcely afford, or simply take their chances on a vehicle of uncertain structural condition.
To low and middle-income earners, trotros remain the most affordable and accessible transport option, making their reliability a matter of public policy rather than simple market preference.
In 2025 alone, Ghana recorded 14,743 road traffic crashes resulting in 2,949 fatalities. The Road Traffic Amendment Act, passed that same year, introduced tighter limits on blood alcohol levels and mandated child restraints, but analysts note that the more pervasive structural degradation of the commercial fleet has yet to attract equivalent legislative urgency.
What Must Change
Transport policy experts and civil society groups are calling for a fundamental overhaul of how roadworthiness certification is conducted for commercial vehicles, with proposals including unannounced spot inspections, mandatory structural integrity assessments during rainy conditions, and stronger penalties for operators found to have misrepresented vehicle condition at the point of certification.
Industry voices have called on the DVLA, the Ghana Standards Authority, and the MTTD to treat the issue with the urgency it demands, arguing that Ghana cannot afford to let public health and road safety be sacrificed on the altar of regulatory negligence or institutional complacency.
The rainy season could last until October. For millions of Accra commuters, the question is not whether their trotro will leak. It is whether anyone in authority will act before the next downpour answers it for them.
