Govt doubles LEAP cash grants

Government has increased the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) grants paid to beneficiaries of the social intervention programme across the country. 

Up to 324,073 beneficiary households receive the bi-monthly grants.

The 89th cycle (January and February 2024) LEAP cash grant payment is scheduled to start today across the country after the government allocated GH¢103,251,072.01 to facilitate the payments.

The Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Darkoa Newman, who made this known at a news conference in Accra last Friday, said the grants would see a 100 per cent increase, effectively doubling the previous stipends.

By the new bi-monthly payment arrangements, one-member households will now receive GH¢256; two-member households will receive GH¢304, three-member households will receive GH¢352, while households with four or more members will receive GH¢424. 

Commitment

Ms Newman said the move reflected the government's commitment to improve the livelihoods of its citizens and address poverty at its roots. She said the substantial increase would provide enhanced financial support to the most vulnerable people in the country.

“The LEAP programme has been a cornerstone of the country's social protection strategy, and this increase in grants is expected to have a significant positive impact on the welfare of beneficiary households across the country,” the minister added.

She said as the increased payments began to roll out, the government remained focused on ensuring the efficient and transparent distribution of funds. With the revised amount, Ms Newman said she was determined to ensure that their far-reaching benefits were felt without delay.

The minister expressed the hope that the boost in funding would provide the much-needed relief and support to thousands of families across the country to enable them to meet their basic needs more effectively, as well as being able to invest in their future well-being.

“This aligns with the LEAP programme's goal, which seeks to reduce poverty by smoothening consumption and promoting human capital development among Ghana's extremely poor and vulnerable households,” she added.

Ms Newman expressed appreciation to the ministry’s partners, including the World Bank, World Food Programme and Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, for their continuous support to the LEAP Programme.

Background

The LEAP programme is a cash transfer programme introduced by the government in 2008 for extremely poor and vulnerable households. Eligible households must fall in one or more of three categories of having orphaned and vulnerable children, persons with severe disability without any productive capacity, and elderly persons who are 65 years and above.