They're watching, measuring, learning what comes next.
In a country where the rhythm of government has long clashed with the rhythm of working life, Ghana's Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority is quietly rewriting the terms of public service. Beginning May 4, 2026, the DVLA will extend its hours across all 16 regional offices — from dawn to late evening — acknowledging that the people it serves do not always have the luxury of appearing at a government counter between nine and five. It is a modest but meaningful gesture toward an institution that bends to meet its citizens, rather than the other way around.
- For years, Ghanaians with jobs, stalls, and obligations have lost wages or rearranged their lives just to renew a license — the DVLA's standard hours have been a quiet tax on working people.
- Starting May 4, two daily shifts — 6 AM to 2 PM and 2 PM to 10 PM — will run simultaneously across all 16 regional capital offices, with the Ashanti Region leading the rollout.
- Security upgrades, improved lighting, and a strict electronic-payments-only rule after 5 PM signal that the authority has prepared carefully, not rushed, into this expansion.
- The DVLA is watching closely: 24-hour service is on the table, but only if public patronage during the extended hours proves the demand is real and the model is sustainable.
Starting May 4, 2026, Ghana's Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority will extend its operating hours across all 16 regional capital offices, running two daily shifts from 6 AM to 10 PM. The Ashanti Region office is leading the change, with Regional Manager Jerry Edem Aflabo announcing the plan during a May Day event. The move directly addresses a long-standing frustration: standard government hours have made it difficult for working Ghanaians — traders, nine-to-five employees, and others — to access licensing services without sacrificing income or time.
The expansion is not improvised. The DVLA has invested in upgraded security systems and improved lighting to ensure safe evening operations for both staff and the public. One notable feature of the new model is that all transactions after 5 PM will be electronic only — no cash accepted. The measure is designed to protect staff and reduce the risk of large sums moving through offices at night, though it will require clients to adapt how they pay.
Looking further ahead, the authority has not ruled out 24-hour service, but it is approaching that possibility with deliberate caution. Whether round-the-clock operations become viable will depend on how many people actually use the extended hours and how well the two-shift model holds up. The DVLA is measuring demand before making any further commitments — and in the meantime, it is working to ensure the public knows the new hours exist and can trust that an evening visit will be as reliable as a morning one.
Starting Monday, May 4, Ghana's Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority will keep its doors open longer than ever before. The Ashanti Region office—and eventually all 16 regional capitals across the country—will shift to a two-shift operation: one team from 6 AM to 2 PM, another from 2 PM to 10 PM. It's a significant move for an agency that has long struggled with the bottleneck of standard business hours, where working people often find themselves unable to renew licenses or register vehicles without taking time off.
The announcement came during a May Day cleanup at the Ashanti office, where Regional Manager Jerry Edem Aflabo laid out the plan to journalists and staff. The authority has been preparing for this expansion methodically. Security systems have been upgraded, lighting installed, and protocols refined to keep both employees and the public safe during evening operations. The infrastructure work signals that this is not a hasty decision but something the DVLA has been building toward.
What makes the extended hours particularly notable is what comes with them. From 5 PM onward, the DVLA will accept only electronic payments—no cash. It's a security measure, Aflabo explained, designed to protect both the money moving through the system and the staff handling it. For clients accustomed to paying in cash, it represents a shift in how they'll need to conduct their business, though it also means fewer people carrying large sums to government offices at night.
The authority is being cautious about the next step. While there are plans to eventually move toward 24-hour operations, that expansion will depend entirely on how many people actually use the extended hours. If demand justifies it, if the two-shift model proves sustainable, then round-the-clock service could follow. But the DVLA is not committing to that yet. They're watching, measuring, learning.
For Ghana's working population, the change addresses a real friction point. Getting to a DVLA office during standard hours often means lost wages or complicated scheduling. Evening hours open the door to people who work nine-to-five jobs, traders who close their stalls late, and anyone whose schedule doesn't align with the traditional government office day. The rollout across all 16 regional capitals means this isn't a pilot in one city—it's a nationwide shift in how the authority operates.
The DVLA's push to encourage public use of the new hours suggests they're aware that changing operating times alone isn't enough. People need to know the service exists, need to trust it, need to feel confident that an evening visit will be as smooth as a morning one. That's partly why the authority made the announcement public and why they're emphasizing the infrastructure improvements. They're trying to build confidence in a new way of doing business.
Notable Quotes
Extended service would be implemented across all 16 regional capital offices of the DVLA— Jerry Edem Aflabo, Regional Manager
Security and lighting systems have been improved to support night operations and ensure the safety of staff and clients— DVLA management
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why extend hours now, after all this time? What changed?
The pressure has been building for years. People work. They can't always get to a government office between nine and five. The DVLA finally decided to meet them halfway—literally, by staying open into the evening.
But why not just go straight to 24 hours if that's the goal?
Because they're being smart about it. Twenty-four-hour operations cost money—staff, utilities, security. They want to see if people will actually use evening hours before they commit to the full leap.
The electronic payments only after 5 PM—is that really about security, or is it about control?
Both, probably. Yes, it's safer to not have cash sitting in an office at night. But it also means every transaction is tracked, recorded, auditable. That's not sinister, but it's not invisible either.
Will this actually work? Will people show up in the evenings?
That's the real question. If they do, this becomes a model for other government services. If they don't, the DVLA quietly goes back to regular hours and learns something about what their customers actually need.
What about the staff? Are they volunteering for night shifts, or are they being told?
The source doesn't say. That's a gap. But you can imagine the conversation—some people might welcome the flexibility, others might resent it. That's the human cost nobody's talking about yet.