LEAP payment cycle ends in Bolgatanga

The forty seventh payment cycle cash grant and the second payment in 2017 to beneficiaries under the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme in the Bolgatanga Municipality has ended.

The 292 beneficiaries who were paid through the E-zwich system through the Naara Rural Bank received a total of GH¢22,000.

Mrs Mercy Pwadra, the Municipal Director of Social Welfare and Community Development, lauded the timely disbursement of funds saying since the initiation of the LEAP in 2010, it has been very beneficial to them.

She said thirty more communities have been targeted in the municipality for 2017 and preliminary assessment on them would be done before approval.

The Municipal Director also expressed worry about the delay encountered with the E-zwich payment system and the slow working staff designated to do the payments and called on the banks to improve upon their services. 

She said internet connectivity in some communities have also been a challenge during pay days and this is compounded by the lack of transport for the staff expected in the communities on pay days.

Some of the beneficiaries expressed worry about the system and noted that the payment went faster when the Ghana Postal Services handled the payments and called for the E-zwich payment system to be improved. 

LEAP is a social cash transfer programme system that provides cash and health insurance to the extremely poor and vulnerable households and the disabled across the country.

Its main aim is to alleviate short-term poverty and encourage long-term human capital development.

The LEAP was launched as Ghana’s flagship programme of the National Social Protection Strategy in 2008 and was funded by the Government of Ghana with support from the World Bank and DFID. It also receives technical support from UNICEF’s social protection unit.

Source: GNA