Skip to main content

1.5m LEAP beneficiaries not paid for four months


About 1.5 million beneficiaries of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme have not been paid their grants for the past four months.

The payment of amounts ranging from GH¢64 to GH¢106, depending on the number of qualified people in a beneficiary household, which is done every two months, has been in arrears from November last year.

The situation has resulted in a disruption in the income of the recipients, identified as the poorest and most vulnerable segment of the population, who are now unable to meet their basic household needs such as food and nutritional needs, health care and education.

Currently, 344,023 households, made up of 1.5 million people, benefit from the LEAP programme.

This was revealed by three civil society groups at a press conference in Accra last Thursday.

The Social Accountability Forum, the Civil Society Platform for Social Protection and the Civil Society Platform on the Sustainable Development Goal 10 jointly organised the event to prevail on the government to expeditiously pay the grants to ameliorate the suffering of the LEAP beneficiaries.

Delivering a statement on behalf of the groups, the Communication Officer of SEND Ghana, Mr Mohammed Tajudeen Abdulai, expressed worry about the fact that the delays had been pervasive particularly in the past couple of years, ranging from one to three months of arrears.

Since November 2019, multiple LEAP payments have been delayed by more than two months due to budget allocations not being disbursed on time to the LEAP programme to effect payment to beneficiaries,” Abdulai stated.

He further explained that “all the six payments accrued for January to December 2021 were delayed, with the cycle payment for November 2021 currently outstanding for four months”.

Recorded delays

Abdulai observed that on September 7, 2021, SEND Ghana issued a statement calling on the government to immediately release funds for the payment of the 73rd cycle, which was due in July 2021.

Subsequently, he noted, another press conference was held on September 14, 2021, by SEND Ghana to again call on the government to release cash grants regularly and make timely payments.

Since then,the 73rd and the 74th payments had been made, albeit with the usual delay. The incessant delay in payments means these households have been denied basic household consumption and nutrition, which eventually leads to a decrease in access to health care and education,” he stressed.

Abdulai observed that LEAP households were very poor and vulnerable Ghanaians with limited economic capacity to be able to sustain such long delays in what was supposed to be “predictable income".

Evidence

Read also: WASH stakeholders advocate for 4% budgetary allocation of GDP

According to him, preliminary results from field monitoring conducted in four districts — Sagnarigu in the Northern Region, Ho in the Volta Region, Wenchi in the Bono Region and Sekondi-Takoradi in the Western Region — showed that “LEAP beneficiaries were generally dissatisfied with the late payment of their cash grants”.

Abdulai pointed out that information regarding the specific reasons for the delays had not been effectively communicated to stakeholders.

Our checks reveal that there has not been any attempt by the LEAP Management Secretariat and the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection to engage the LEAP beneficiaries and other relevant stakeholders on when payments will be made," he stated.

That practice, he observed, was “unacceptable and defies the principle of good governance and accountability”.

We, therefore, call on government to immediately release funds for payment to beneficiary households to alleviate their long-suffering and hardships,” Abdulai noted.

Responding to questions from some journalists, the Deputy Country Director of SEND Ghana, Dr. Emmanuel Ayifah, observed that the delay in payments had nothing to do with challenges with the system of disbursement or mode of payment of the funds but due to lack of funds.

He stressed the need for the Social Protection Bill to be passed into law this year to help resolve some of these challenges and hold duty bearers accountable, stressing that the termination of the LEAP programme should not be an option.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Nestlé Ghana Limited Wins Overall Best Industrial Company Of The Year at 13th AGI Industry & Quality Awards

  Nestlé Ghana Limited has been honored with four prestigious awards at the 13th Association of Ghana Industry and Quality Awards ceremony. The event, held in an esteemed setting, gathered prominent figures from Ghana’s industrial sector. Amidst the anticipation, Nestlé Ghana emerged as one of the evening’s notable winners, securing accolades in several key categories. This recognition underscores Nestlé Ghana’s relentless pursuit of excellence and innovation, marking a significant milestone that highlights the company’s substantial contributions to the manufacturing industry in Ghana. Nestlé Ghana's exceptional performance was acknowledged with the following awards: Overall Best National Quality Award, Diamond Category (Food) Overall Best Practices in Sustainable Manufacturing Best Company (Food Sector) Overall Industrial Company of the Year, affirming its status as a leader not only within the food sector but also across Ghana's entire industrial landscape. This success is a ...

Anglogold Ashanti Obuasi Mine tops 2024 Sustainability & Social Investment Awards

 AngloGold Ashanti Obuasi Mine has confirmed its status as sustainability champions by sweeping nine awards, the most won by a company at the 2024 Sustainability & Social Investment Awards (SSI) held at Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra. The feat comes on the heels of a dominant performance in last year's event where AngloGold Ashanti Obuasi Mine swept seven awards. The SSI Awards organised by Ianmatsun Global Services recognizes the most outstanding sustainability, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives in the country and beyond as well as the best teams and individuals who brought them to life. This year's event, which was the 8th edition, was under the theme "Climate Action Now: Accelerating Decarbonization and Building Resilience". The awards won by AngloGold Ashanti on the night include SSI Company of the Year, Best Company in Women Empowerment (project), SSI Company of the Year ( Environment), Best Co...

Zoomlion Advocates Community & Gender inclusive waste management for Climate Action at COP 29

 Africa's waste management giant, Zoomlion Ghana Limited has advocated for an integrated approach to waste management that considers the interest of community members, women and vulnerable groups. James Deku, a Communications Officer of Zoomlion Ghana Limited made this call at the 29th session of the Conference Of Parties (COP 29) of the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) at Azerbaijan, Baku whiles speaking on the topic "Community-Driven and Gender Inclusive approaches to waste management for Climate Action ". He said the waste sector is a major contributor of methane emissions which is a potent greenhouse gas causing climate change hence the need to manage waste in a manner that considers the interest of all stakeholders. Zoomlion's waste management model is designed and operated in a manner that considers the interest of all stakeholders. Through a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model, local authorities engage community members in clea...