Freetown, 10th December, 2025– The Ministry of Transport and Aviation, in collaboration with the Sierra Leone Road Safety Authority (SLRSA), on Tuesday held the final stakeholders’ consultation on a proposed Vehicle Age Policy that seeks to introduce age limits on imported vehicles entering the country.
The meeting, hosted at the Freetown City Council, brought together representatives from the Standards Bureau, vehicle importers, the National Revenue Authority (NRA), the Drivers’ Union, and other road safety actors. Officials described the session as a major step toward formalising regulations in a sector that has long operated without clear restrictions on the age of imported vehicles.
Deputy Minister of Transport and Aviation, Rex Bonapha, stressed the importance of a strong policy framework to guide vehicle imports, noting that many road accidents in Sierra Leone are linked to technical faults in over-aged and defective vehicles. He confirmed that the draft policy would be forwarded to the Attorney-General for legal advice before being tabled in Parliament.
“We are part of ECOWAS, and ECOWAS has already taken a decision to implement a vehicle age limit. Other member states, including Ghana, have started implementation. We are a bit behind, but we are working to ensure that we start,” Bonapha said.
Chairing the event, Augustine Kaitongi, Director of Safety and Enforcement at SLRSA, highlighted the environmental and public health risks posed by the absence of age regulations. He expressed hope that the consultation would help finalize a policy that enforces age restrictions on vehicle imports.
Representing the Executive Director of SLRSA, Arthur Brima, Director of Transport, noted that similar consultations had been held across the country, with the Freetown session serving as the climax. He emphasized that defective and over-aged vehicles remain a major cause of accidents nationwide.
Through a detailed presentation, Abu-bakarr Sheriff Esq., Secretary to the Authority and Board, outlined the background, urgency, and expected benefits of the policy, citing data on the average age of imported vehicles and best practices across the sub-region.
Stakeholders expressed mixed views. Momodu Koroma, Vice President of the Drivers’ Union, described the initiative as progressive and proposed establishing a scrapyard at Queen Elizabeth II Quay to destroy vehicles that fail to meet the required age limit. Meanwhile, Mohamed Alhaji Shaw, President of the Car Dealers Association, pointed to challenges in the current tax structure, arguing that older vehicles attract lower taxes while newer ones attract higher taxes. He recommended reversing this trend to discourage the importation of older cars.
The session concluded with group discussions led by Mrs. Assanatu Judith Bangura, Director of Training and Development at SLRSA, where participants debated the relevance, urgency, and expected benefits of the proposed policy and submitted recommendations for government action.
