Report "ghost" beneficiaries of LEAP to Assembly - MCE

Madam Rita Odoley Sowah, the Municipal Chief Executive for La-Dadekotopon, has called on community members to report any dead beneficiary of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme to the Assembly.

She further asked the members to do same for the Social Welfare Department to enable both institutions to revise their data to create space for others to also benefit from the programmes.

Madam Sowah made the call when she supervised the disbursement of funds from the LEAP programme to some beneficiaries at La in Accra.

She said 227 people have so far benefited from the LEAP in the La-Dadekotopon Municipality, as the Assembly registered new members onto the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

Madam Sowah said government's social intervention programmes, which included LEAP, are aimed at improving the living standards of the "poorest of the poor" and therefore it must not be undermined.

Madam Sowah entreated beneficiaries of the LEAP to register with the NHIS, and to also take advantage of other social interventions.

Mrs Lydia Mensah-Bonsu, the La-Dadekotopon Municipal Social Welfare Officer said the LEAP, which was started in 2008 is a flagship programme of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection and was aimed at improving the plight of orphans, the extremely poor and the aged in society.

She said so far GHc11,448 LEAP funds had been disbursed to beneficiaries in the Municipality.

Currently, 90,000 households are benefiting from the programme across the country and government intends to increase that figure.