It may have been overlooked in the past but the new craze of embossing chieftaincy crests rather than number plates on vehicles of supposed traditional rulers is about to be stamped out by the authorities.

This follows concerns raised by the Minister for the Interior, Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, over the growing trend where chiefs use their chieftaincy crests on vehicles instead of official registration plates, which the minister described as a serious security risk.

Mr Muntaka stressed that under the Constitution, only the President was permitted to drive a vehicle that was not officially registered.

The minister, therefore, gave chiefs guilty of the situation up to the end of March this year to register their vehicles or risk having them impounded.

Mr Muntaka made the statement during the general meeting of the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs at Dodowa last Wednesday.

Regulation 10 of the Road Traffic Regulation, 2012 (L.I. 2180) mandates all motor vehicles to be registered and to display official number plates issued by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA).

The regulation does not provide any exemptions for chiefs or other traditional authorities to use chieftaincy crests in place of legally approved registration number plates.

Using such crests instead of official plates is, therefore, a violation of L.I. 2180 and could pose security risks.

“Even the Vice-President, the Speaker of Parliament and the Chief Justice ensure their vehicles bear valid registration numbers.

Unfortunately, we are seeing a worrying trend where some chiefs purchase vehicles, fail to register them and simply place the crest of their paramountcy on them.

This is a serious security risk because if such a vehicle is stolen and used for a crime, it would be nearly impossible to trace,” Mr Muntaka explained.

He, therefore, urged traditional leaders to comply with the law, warning that once the deadline passed, authorities would strictly enforce the regulations without exceptions.

“We are in the first quarter and I want to make this appeal; let us take steps to register all unregistered vehicles now.

When enforcement begins, I do not want to be in a position where I have to instruct law enforcement to impound a chief’s vehicle.

That would be unfortunate, but if the law has to be enforced, it will be enforced,” the Interior minister stated.

Mr Muntaka also announced plans to visit all 16 regions to engage traditional rulers on the matter, emphasising that once the grace period expired, full enforcement would begin.

He encouraged chiefs to take advantage of existing legal provisions that allowed for customised registration numbers, insisting that they could pay a special fee to acquire personalised plates while still complying with the law.

Mr Muntaka urged the Regional Houses of Chiefs to take the matter seriously to ensure that their members complied before the deadline to avoid unnecessary confrontations with law enforcement agencies.