The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) has announced an increase in cash grants for beneficiary households under the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme.
In a press release dated June 27, the Ministry disclosed that beneficiaries in 2024 will receive double the money they were entitled to in June 2023 months after a delay in payment of grants.
As a result of the increase, the government has released GH₵103,251,072.01 to pay the 324,073 beneficiary households the Gender Ministry noted.
The Ministry disclosed that the January and February 2024 LEAP cash grant payments will begin on Monday, July 1, with the revised grant amount taking effect.
“From June to December 2023, the LEAP Grants paid to beneficiary households bi-monthly were as follows: one member household was entitled to GH₵128.00, two-member households were entitled to GH₵152.00, three-member households were entitled to GH₵176.00 and finally four and above member households were entitled to GH₵212.00.”
“With immediate effect, the cash grants provided to households enrolled on to the LEAP programme will see a 100% increase from the 2023 figures as follows: one-member household from GH₵128.00 to GH₵256.00, two-member households from GH₵152.00 to GHC304.00, three-member households from GH₵176.00 to GHC352.00, and four-member households from GH₵212.00 to GH₵424.00.”
The Gender Ministry indicated that the government hopes the increase in grants for beneficiaries is expected to provide relief and support to families across the country and enable them to meet their basic needs more effectively.
“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.”
This comes a week after the Civil Society Platform on the Sustainable Development Goal 10, the Social Accountability Forum and the Civil Society Platform for Social Protection called out the government for failing to pay LEAP beneficiaries.
According to the CSOs, Ghanaians under the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programs are facing untold hardships due to the delay in the disbursement of grants.
They acknowledged the government’s efforts in the past year to increase LEAP benefits and disburse grants at the increased rate in 2023 albeit with some delays.
The groups also acknowledged the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) and the Ministry of Finance (MoF) for introducing an inflation-based indexation mechanism to adjust LEAP benefits annually, ensuring that the real value of the benefits is preserved against inflation.
However, they stated that the government have not only failed to meet the IMF bailout negotiations for a timely disbursement of LEAP grants to support vulnerable households but this delay is particularly detrimental as it coincides with a period of increasing inflation and economic instability.