The Chief Executive Officer of the Environmental Protection Authority, Prof. Nana Ama Browne Klutse, says efforts to reset Ghana’s environmental governance under President John Dramani Mahama are firmly on course.

According to her, effective environmental compliance cannot be achieved if institutions mandated to regulate pollution and enforce environmental laws are not adequately resourced to tackle the country’s growing environmental challenges.

She said this informed deliberate steps taken since she assumed office to strengthen the EPA and expand its presence across the country.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with JoyNews, Prof. Klutse highlighted a number of interventions rolled out over the last 15 months.

As part of efforts to decentralise operations, she disclosed that the authority has opened and operationalised 50 new district and area offices nationwide.

"Since I took over as the CEO of EPA, we have expanded our reach by establishing 50 new district and area offices across the country. The objective is to ensure that environmental compliance enforcement is seen and felt at the local level," she said.

She added that plans are underway to establish more offices to deepen accountability and improve local enforcement.

"We are not done yet with the expansion. Plans are underway to ensure that we open as many of those offices to ensure everyone is held accountable for their environmental actions."

Prof. Klutse further revealed that the expansion has created demand for more technical and administrative personnel, leading to the recruitment of 2,300 staff members.

"Once these 50 offices have been opened, we need to fill them with skilled staff. So over the past 15 months, we have recruited some 2,300 staff and posted them to the various districts and area offices across the country."

"So I can confidently say that EPA is contributing to addressing unemployment in the country in a very sustainable way," she added

According to her, the expansion impact is already being felt in communities that previously had little or no regulatory presence.

"The impact of this expansion is already being felt on the ground as places in this country that have never been regulated before have now been brought under the radar of the EPA."

On digital transformation, the EPA boss said the authority has significantly modernised its operations to improve service delivery.

"We're also proud to say that since assuming office, we have worked so hard to digitize our operations. The objective is to improve efficiency, reduce leakages, fast-track licensing and verification processes."

She explained that the reforms now allow people to access EPA services remotely.

"So today, you can live in Keta or Bawku, if you need any EPA certificate, all you need to do is to go online, fill a form and the rest of the process remains online with regular updates from the authority."

Prof. Klutse also disclosed that internally generated revenue has increased by 50% following the reforms.

She said this enabled the authority to remit a surplus to the state.

"EPA has remitted a 20 million cedis surplus to the Consolidated Fund in an unprecedented move at the end of the 2025 financial year due to the intentional resetting being carried out at the EPA within the last 15 months."

On logistics, she said the authority has procured 80 new operational vehicles for its expanding offices and departments.

"Apart from financial gains, we have been able to procure 80 brand new operational vehicles for the new offices and other new departments of the authority. We have taken delivery of 40 so far. The rest 40 are on the high seas and will be ready in May 2026."

She further stated that the EPA board, management and staff remain motivated to deliver a cleaner and more sustainable environment for national development.

Prof. Klutse, however, warned persons allegedly impersonating the authority in illegal mining-affected areas to desist.

She said the authority remains on alert and will move to apprehend and prosecute such persons under the laws of Ghana.