Liberia, July 17 -- AT THE dedication of the Environmental Protection Agency's permanent headquarters and the commissioning of its Elemental Analyzer on July 16, 2026, President Joseph Nyuma Boakai declared: "Dr. Urey Yarkpawolo is a gift to this nation."

THIS WAS more than ceremonial praise. It was a public recognition of what purposeful leadership can accomplish when technical competence, courage, discipline and prudent financial management are applied to public service.

PUBLIC OFFICIALS should ultimately be judged by the institutions they strengthen, the reforms they implement and the lasting value they create for the country. On that standard, Dr. Emmanuel K. Urey Yarkpawolo's leadership of the EPA has become one of the notable exa...