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Chief Whips ask Parliament to end insurance exemption for government vehicles

Writer: Ghana Insurance Hub
Ghana Insurance Hub
8 hours ago
3 min read

Parliament's Majority Chief Whip, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, and Minority Chief Whip, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, presented a joint statement on the floor of Parliament in Accra on 4 November 2026 calling for government vehicles to lose their exemption from compulsory third-party motor insurance.


The Motor Vehicles (Third Party Insurance) Act, 1958 (Act 42) bars the use of a vehicle on a public road without valid third-party cover, but Section 5(a) exempts vehicles owned by the government, or used only in government service, when they are on official business. The two MPs asked for the Act to be amended, with the National Insurance Commission (NIC) and the Attorney-General involved, so that state vehicles meet the same requirement as private ones. Annoh-Dompreh said the current arrangement undermines "equality before the law", citing Article 17 of the 1992 Constitution, GhanaWeb reported.


Dafeamekpor told the House that the security deposits the law requires for exempt government vehicles have not been lodged since 1958, and cited Section 220 of the Insurance Act, 2021 (Act 1061) on compulsory third-party cover. He referred to the Auditor-General's report for 2021, which found 92 uninsured official vehicles at the Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice; a 2013 crash involving one of those vehicles led to a GH¢266,399 judgment debt against the state. "The state is killing us twice," he said, according to MyJoyOnline. He estimated that comprehensive cover for a US$80,000 Toyota Land Cruiser at a 5% premium would cost about US$4,000, or roughly GH¢55,000.


The statement cited Public Accounts Committee findings from 2022 that 98 to 99 per cent of more than 18,000 government vehicles were uninsured, and a July 2024 crash near Koforidua involving an uninsured GETFund school bus whose victims received no insurance benefit. It also cited National Road Safety Authority figures of 2,949 deaths in 14,743 crashes in 2025, an 18.2% rise on 2024. The whips said self-insurance without a ring-fenced compensation fund leaves victims to petition ministries or sue the Attorney-General, and commended Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh for moving to insure the national ambulance fleet.


First Deputy Speaker Bernard Ahiafor, who presided, referred the matter to the Attorney-General, Dominic Ayine, and the Finance Minister, Cassiel Ato Forson, GhanaWeb reported. According to 3News, the statement was also to go to three joint committees of the House for a report within two weeks. The Finance Minister is due to present the 2027 Budget on 12 November.


The Chief Whips asked the government to:

  • amend Act 42 to remove the exemption for government vehicles;

  • direct all ministries, departments and agencies to insure their fleets now and register them on the Motor Insurance Database;

  • provide for insurance premiums in the 2027 national budget;

  • publish an audit of the state vehicle fleet and the insurance status of each vehicle.


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