Ghana government to increase LEAP allowance
Government plans to increase the allowances of beneficiaries of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) Programme, Nana Oye Lithur Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, has said.
She said the Ministry, in consultation with the Ministry of Finance, was working on increasing the cash transfer from GH¢ 24 to GH¢ 44 a month for a single beneficiary, while it would be using biometric payment in January 2016.
The LEAP programme, which started in 2008, is aimed at lessening the plight of Orphans, persons with extremely poor households, and the aged in society. It has helped more than 70,000 households by 2013 since its inception.
Oye Lithur was touring three beneficiary communities of the programme in Somanya in the Eastern Region to ensure that beneficiaries received the right amount of money.
The communities are Zongo, Adjikpo and Djaba Road.
She urged the beneficiaries not to use the money for funerals and appealed to those who were not registered into the National Health Insurance Scheme to do so.
Oye Lithur said currently about 90,000 beneficiary households were benefiting from the programme across the country, while the Government was planning to increase the number to 150,000 by September and 200,000 by December 2015.
Mr Dzigbordi Agbekpornu, the Project Manager for the LEAP Implementing Project, explained that the programme was an initiative providing cash and health insurance to extremely poor households across Ghana to alleviate short-term poverty and to encourage long-term human capital development.
He said it was the flagship programme of Ghana’s National Social Protection Strategy and was implemented by the Department of Social Welfare under the Ministry.
He said the programme was funded from general revenues of the Central Government, donations from the Department for International Development and a loan from the World Bank
Mr Kwaku Mensah, the Municipal Coordinating Director, Yilo Krobo Municipal Assembly, commended the government for the prompt payments to the total number of 923 beneficiaries in the municipality.
Source: GNA