Kwasi Agyeman Busia and Hina Nagarajan signing MoU documents
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Diageo – mother company of Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited – to help reduce injuries and deaths resulting from drink driving.
As part of the agreement, the entities would jointly embark on a campaign to raise public awareness on dangers of drink through a ‘Drink-Drive module’ that will empower people with information to take better decisions on drinking and driving.
The e-learning tool which is to be incorporated in all learning curriculum of the DVLA is made up of a learning module, a driving game and a dash board at the back end that would gather data within the remit of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).
Speaking at the signing ceremony on Wednesday, June 19, 2019, in Accra, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the DVLA, Kwasi Agyeman Busia, described the collaboration as timely based on the strategic direction of the DVLA which seeks to promote System integration, Entrenchment, Enforcement and Data analytics (SEED).
He also emphasised the need for more awareness initiatives in order to stimulate constructive deliberations on ‘Alcohol responsibility’ across the Ghanaian society.
“It would be a measure of the awareness success when the data on alcohol related accidents takes a dip,” he said.
The Managing Director of Diageo in charge of Africa Emerging Markets, Hina Nagarajan, said the initiative which formed part of the organisation’s social responsibility only goes to highlight the leadership track record in the area of promoting responsible use of alcohol in societies.
“Our purpose as a business is to help people celebrate life and by that we want to ensure that consumers are being responsible when they drink especially when they are going to drive,” she said.
She called for deepened collaboration among stakeholders to reduce harm associated with consumption of unrecorded or informal alcohol since it accounts for a significant portion of all alcohol consumed globally.
On behalf of the Minister of Transport, the Director of Finance and Administration at the Ministry of Transport, Emmanuel Num entreated other stakeholders especially those in the private sector to emulate the move by Guinness Ghana to ensure safer roads.
He noted that the loss of lives as a result of road accidents has had a negative and social impact on the Ghanaian society.
“This trend means that we are rebuilding communities of widows and orphans while increasing the economic cost of road traffic crashes and this must change,” he said.