Accra-Ghana, Aug. 03, GNA – Advocacy group, SEND Ghana, has asked the government to prioritise the timely release of grants for all pro-poor programmes.
It said the government must ensure that the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) grants was extended to all the 2.5 million extremely poor people identified by the Ghana Living Standard Survey Report, instead of the current 1.5 million and payment made on time.
Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra on the expansion of the coverage of LEAP in the mid-year budget review, the Deputy Country Director for SEND Ghana, Dr. Emmanuel Ayifah, said though his Organisation was happy with the increment announced, it ought to be extended to cover all extremely poor persons.
“We have been making this call on government to expand the beneficiaries to cover the 2.5 million extremely poor and so, if the Finance Minister has indicated in the 2023 mid-year budget that they are looking at expanding the coverage by 2024, then we think that it’s a welcoming news, we are happy to hear that,” he said, adding that it must come with prompt payment.
Dr Ayifah said delayed payments defeated the purpose and put undue pressure on beneficiaries.
“The biggest challenge for the LEAP programme and all our social protection programmes is the delay in payments. Talk about the capitation grant, it’s been in areas, talk about the school feeding, it’s been in arrears, talk about the other social protection programmes, they are in arrears.
“We are saying that yes in as much as we are happy about what the Finance Minister said, considering the pressures that the LEAP beneficiaries and other vulnerable groups face, we think that it is important beyond the increment to also pay the monies timely.”
Presenting the mid-year budget review in Parliament, on July 31, 2023, the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, said the government had increased the allowance of beneficiaries of LEAP by 100 per cent.
Under the LEAP programme, a single beneficiary takes GHC64.00, two beneficiaries in a household are entitled to GHC76.00 while three beneficiaries take GHC88.00 and four and above people are entitled to GHC106.00 a month.
The programme is to provide cash transfers to extremely poor and vulnerable households in the country.
The aim is to alleviate poverty, improve the living conditions of the beneficiaries, and enhance social protection for the most disadvantaged members of society.
