LEAP: We’ll soon recruit new beneficiaries - Gender Minister

The Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Cynthia Morrison has said the ministry has successfully paid all persons under the Livelihood Empower Against Poverty (LEAP) Cash Payment.

The minister speaking in an interview with Kwabena Agyapong on Rainbow Radio 87.5Fm noted that they do not owe any beneficiary.

Cynthia Morrison said beneficiaries have always been encouraged to make judicious use of the remittance they receive from the government.

This she hinted would help the encourage the government to expand the facility to cover more families.

She hinted the ministry will soon review the list of beneficiaries as they have identified that children who receive the money on behalf of the aged, are capable of working to cater for their aged parents.

She revealed the ministry will rather empower these individuals, start them up so they will be able to generate resources to take care of their aged parents.

"We are considering moving some of the beneficiaries to another stage. We want to empower some of them, start them up and take them off the LEAP. There some of them who invest their money into small businesses. These are the categories we want to empower and resource them and take them off the LEAP and recruit new beneficiaries,” she added.

The Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) is a Cash transfer programme introduced by Former President John Agyekum Kuffour cushion the poorest households in the country.

It is to assist the poorest families with basic needs including food, to improve health and education status of children in the poorest families and lastly to help the beneficiary families come out of their poverty situations.

The Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) is a cash transfer programme introduced by the Government of Ghana (GOG) in 2008, for extremely poor and vulnerable households which have the following three categories of eligible members:

The main objective of the LEAP Program is to reduce poverty by increasing and smoothening consumption and promoting access to services and opportunities among the extremely poor and vulnerable.