Environmental Protection Authority (Ghana)


The Environmental Protection Authority, is an authority established by EPA Act 490, 1994. The decision to establish the Environment Protection Council was a direct result of the recommendations of the Stockholm Conference. Before this decision, Ghana was elected by the General Assembly to the Governing Council of 58 nations set up to administer the affairs of the UNEP.
Before the Stockholm conference, Ghana had felt the need for environmental protection and prepared the ground for a body to deal with environmental matters in the country. Several organizations had begun initiatives in environmental work; the best-known were:
The Environmental Protection Council was established by the National Redemption Council government led by Ignatius Kutu Acheampong. On 23 May 1973, the Government of the National Redemption Council announced the establishment of an Environmental Protection Council under Chairmanship of Professor E.A Boateng, first vice-chancellor of the University of Cape Coast.
On 23 January 1974 the head of state signed NRC Decree 239, establishing the Environmental Protection Council. On 4 June, the Environmental Protection Council was established by attorney general; Edward Nathaniel Moore on behalf of the Commissioner of Economic Planning.

E. A. Boateng

, the council's first chair, began work in a temporary office at the headquarters of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in Airport Residential Area in Accra. His secretary was F. K. A. Jiagge and he had ten junior staff, including a stenographer, two clerks, three drivers, a receptionist, a messenger and a night watchman. Two senior staff later joined the EPC: Joyce Aryee and Clement Dorme–Adzobu.
The council, made up of 16 members from government, organizations and universities, included E. Lartey, D. M. Mills, E. G. Beausoleil, S. K. P. Kanda, B. K. Nketsia, M. Nicholas, J. W. Boateng,, A. Odjidja, F. A. A. Acquaah, J. Bentum-Williams, P. N. K. Turkson, S. Al-Hassan M. K. Adu Badu. The EPC was part of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning. It moved from its temporary offices at Council for Science and Industrial Research headquarters to the Ministry of Works and Housing and then to Old Parliament House, where it remained until its 1978 move to the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation building. Construction of a permanent council headquarters began at the ministry in 1979, and it was completed in 1994.

B. W. Garbrah

Garbrah was appointed acting executive EPC chair in 1981. The council became part of the Ministry of Health, since it was thought that it would work better aligned with the health sector.
During a 1982 drought, the council focused its attention on tree planting and there was a national reforestation campaign in the wake of deforestation from 1972 into the 1980s. The EPC moved to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to work with district assemblies to ensure environmental sustainability. In 1983, the government introduced a National Bushfire Campaign to minimize the bushfires occurring throughout the country. The council conducted sensitization programmes, and officers traveled throughout the country to minimise bushfire occurrence in collaboration with district assemblies and the Ghana National Fire Service.

Christine Debrah

Debrah was appointed executive chair of the EPC in 1985. She opened regional offices to bring environmental protection closer to the people, particularly in northern Ghana. The Northern Regional Office in Tamale, headed by Edward M. Telly, opened in 1988 and work began on more offices. Debrah emphasised environmental education, contributing to the debate on climate change.
Her staff attended international conferences to deliberate on, and find solutions to, global and national environmental problems. For her contributions, Debrah was listed on the UNEP Global 500 Roll of Honour and is a member of the Climate Institute's board of advisors.

Franciska Issaka

In 1990, Franciska Issaka was appointed acting chair of the EPC. She continued its expansion, employing more staff and in 1991 opening the Upper West Regional Office in Wa headed by John Pwamang. Issaka ensured that all the regional offices had permanent locations.
The council brought together environmentalists and academicians to draft the 1991 National Environmental Action Plan, which was later adopted by the government. A number of international environmental protocols were ratified at this time, including the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Framework on Climate Change. The National Ozone Office was established as part of the EPC in 1991 to end the import of ozone-depleting substances by the country after Ghana ratified the Montreal Protocol in 1989.

Council to authority

After the 1992 constitution and national election, the National Democratic Congress government of Jerry John Rawlings created the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology the following year. A national environmental policy was produced, and the council was moved into the ministry to implement it. In June 1993 a five-year Ghana Environmental Resource Management project, sponsored by the World Bank, was begun to ensure staff infrastructure. The authority expanded, and by December 1993 six regional offices were in operation: Western, Volta, Eastern, Ashanti, Northern and Upper West. The following year, three additional regional offices opened: Central, Greater Accra and Brong Ahafo.
On 30 December 1994, the Environmental Protection Council became the Environmental Protection authority in Act 490. The act empowered the authority to legally prosecute environmental offences and sue for breaches of the law. A 13-member management board, headed by Arnold Quainoo, was established.

Peter Acquah

Peter Claver Acquah was appointed acting executive director of EPA Ghana in 1994, and
the authority completed its integrated coastal-zone management strategy for Ghana 1997. In September 1997, the United Nations Environment Programme gave an "outstanding national ozone unit award" to EPA Ghana in recognition of its efforts in implementing the Montreal Protocol. The Tarkwa Office was opened as part of the Western Regional Office to oversee mining problems in 1999, with Michael Sandow Ali its first head.
That year, a strategic plan was produced to guide the authority's activities. In November 2000, the Capacity Development and Linkages for Environmental Impact Assessment in Africa project began.
Acquah opened the Tema office, headed by Yaw Safo Afriyie and later by Lambert Faabeloun, in 2001 before his resignation that year.

Jonathan Allotey

Allotey was appointed acting executive director in October 2001 by President John Kufour, whose National Patriotic Party won the 2000 elections. Allotey, former director of the Regional Programmes Division, was the first staff member to become head of the authority.
The government placed the authority under the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development. A management board was appointed, chaired by Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panyin II the Okyenhene of the Kyebi traditional area.
In 2001, a school opened in Amasaman for training national and international experts in environmental management. A mining reclamation bond was posted, so mining companies do not have to post a bond; if a company fails to reclaim a mine site, funds can be released for reclamation.
Allotey led the team which produced a National Action Programme to Combat Drought. The Ghana Technology Transfer Needs Assessment Report, introduced in 2005, was also produced by the authority's climate change adaptation programme which was launched by the Minister in with a team of experts preparing an atlas of the coast.
The authority coordinates the work of the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme in Ghana. In 2005 Daniel S. Amlalo, the authority's deputy executive director, was elected vice-chairman of the International Coordinating Council of Man and Biosphere. In May 2009 EPA Ghana hosted the International Association for Impact Assessment conference in Ghana, and Allotey was elected chairman of the association. He resigned from the authority the following year.

Daniel Amlalo

Daniel Amlalo was appointed the authority's acting executive director on 1 December 2010, renovating EPA Ghana's offices and creating more offices at the Millennium Block. In 2011, the second five-year strategic plan was produced for 2011 to 2015.
Ghana's second national communication under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was issued. In 2011, EPA Ghana produced guidelines for the environmental assessment and management of offshore oil and gas development. The government renamed the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation in January 2012 to promote innovation in science. The Cleaner Production Centre was dedicated in Tema by Minister Sherry Ayittey on 20 January 2012.
A capacity development mechanism project, aiming to improve internal communication within the authority to increase efficiency, began in 2012. With financial support from the Canadian International Development authority, communications between the authority's head office and regional offices have been improved with broadband Internet access.
Ghana celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Montreal Protocol in Ho on 14 September 2012, with its theme "protecting the atmospheres for generations to come". Winners of school competitions received prizes. Climate change issues were tackled, with the national climate-change adaptation strategy document produced that year.
Amlalo was appointed EPA Ghana executive director on 3 January 2013, and began the authority's modernization. Three new offices were opened in Nkwanta, Damongo and Wulensi in August 2013. The 2013 Man and Biosphere Programme in Africa elected him its chair.
YearNamePosition
1974-81E. A. BoatengExecutive chairman
1981-85B. W. GarbrahActing executive chairman
1985-90Christine DebrahExecutive chairperson
1990-93Franciska IssakaActing executive chairperson
1993-94Farouk BraimahActing executive chair
1994-2001Peter AcquahExecutive director
2001-10Jonathan AlloteyExecutive director
2010-2020Daniel AmlaloExecutive director
2020-nowExecutive Director