Government will wean LEAP beneficiaries

By
Dennis Peprah, RNG

Kadelso (Bono East),
March 29, GNA – The government would wean some of the beneficiaries as part of the
Livelihoods Empowerment Program Against Poverty (LEAP), Mr. Frank Adjei,
Kintampo, city director of the Department of Social Welfare, said.

Most affected
are orphans over the age of 18 who continue to benefit from the cash grant and
they would be supported to engage in sustainable trade to fight for
is.

Government through the
The LEAP program offers cash grants ranging from 64,000 GH ¢ to 106,00 GH ¢.
beneficiaries for their maintenance.

They understood
vulnerable people aged 65 and over, people with severe disabilities,
pregnant women, orphans in a household.

In an interview with
The Ghana News Agency (GNA) on the sidelines of a forum for sharing experiences
Kadelso in the municipality, Adjei said that the LEAP program is
introduced to support only vulnerable and extremely poor people in society.

"LEAP is basically
for sensitive people who can not participate in economic activities
because of their vulnerabilities, "he said.

The forum was jointly
organized by the Coalition for the Right to Information, Commonwealth Human Rights
Initiative (CHRI) and Community Foundation for Youth Development (CYDF),
Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) with the support of Open Society
Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), another NGO.

He was destined to
raise awareness about LEAP and identify basic challenges and help
to solve these problems in order to support its implementation.

Adjei, however, said
LEAP program had a positive impact on socio-economic livelihoods
beneficiaries, it is necessary to identify and support orphans
beneficiaries who were dropouts to go into job-ready vocational training for
secure their future.

This, he says, would
also pave the way for registration and include more qualified people who are not
benefiting from the program.

Mr. Adjei said
Department received information that some of the beneficiaries were
alcoholism and other unhealthy lifestyles and warned the ministry not to
hesitate to wean beneficiaries who have not used cash grants
wisely.

Ms. Mina Mensah, the
Head of the CHRI Office for Africa, noted that cash grants to
beneficiaries were inadequate and called on the government to increase the
amount.

GNA