The 96th payment cycle also reflects a 25 per cent increase in the allowances. The payment covers March to April this year.

With the upward adjustment, one-member households which previously received GH¢265 will now get GH¢320, while two-member households will receive GH¢380, increased from the previous GH¢304.

Three-member households will get GH¢440, an increase from the GH¢352, while households with four or more members will be paid GH¢530 instead of the previous GH¢424.

The payments, which started yesterday, will benefit 350,000 households across 260 metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs).

This is the second time this year that the government has disbursed funds under the LEAP to beneficiaries.

The Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Dr Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, announced the latest payments at a press briefing in Accra yesterday.

Background

Earlier this year, the government disbursed GH¢265.22 million for the 94th and 95th payment cycles of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) Programme.

The payments, scheduled for the last week of March 2025, benefited 350,000 households across 260 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs).

The joint disbursement covered the 94th cycle (November–December 2024) and the 95th cycle (January–February 2025).

Commitment

Dr Lartey said President John Dramani Mahama was committed to reducing the cost of living by taking appropriate and decisive actions to stimulate economic growth and ensure development for all.

She said the LEAP cash grant had been increased significantly across all household categories to enhance its real value and impact on key development indicators, such as nutrition, health care, education and income-generating activities.

Dr Lartey explained that the increase came amid broader efforts by the government to mitigate the impact of rising living costs on the country’s most vulnerable citizens.

To sustain the expanded support, she said the government had allocated GH¢953.5 million to the LEAP Programme in the 2025 budget, a significant rise from the GH¢728.8 million allocated last year.

In addition, the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection said steps were underway to scale up the number of beneficiary households from 350,000 to 400,000, following an ongoing reassessment exercise aimed at identifying more households in need.

“The ongoing reassessment exercise will help us reach the target of 400,000 beneficiary households in upcoming disbursement cycles,” she said.

Eligibility

Dr Lartey said each household on the programme was supported on their level of poverty and the number of individuals with vulnerabilities.

She urged beneficiary families to use the funds wisely, encouraging them to prioritise household nutrition, children’s education and investment in small-scale income-generating activities.

“We also call on families to adopt a savings culture that aligns with their consumption needs and long-term household goals,” she added.

Context

The LEAP programme is a flagship initiative under the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, with support from the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.

The LEAP grant is paid bi-monthly, with varied amounts paid to households, depending on their number.

Each household on the programme is paid according to the programme’s eligibility criteria, including orphans and vulnerable children, elderly persons (65 years and above) without support, persons with severe disabilities who cannot work, extremely poor pregnant women and lactating mothers with infants under one year.

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This financial commitment was announced by Finance Minister Dr Mohammed Amin Adam during his mid-year budget review presented to Parliament on Tuesday, July 23.

During his presentation, Dr Amin Adam noted government’s unwavering commitment to enhancing the quality of life for all Ghanaians, particularly the nation’s most vulnerable populations.

He stated that, the substantial disbursement reflects the government’s determination to provide essential social services and support.

“To reduce the burden on the vulnerable, we have disbursed GH¢5.4 billion to support LEAP, the School Feeding Program, the Capitation Grant, and NHIS since January 2024,” he said.

A significant portion of these funds will be directed towards the LEAP program, which provides cash transfers to the poorest households in the country.

Over the years, LEAP has been a crucial tool in alleviating poverty and improving living standards.

The additional funding is expected to expand the program’s reach, enabling more households to benefit from this vital support.

The school feeding program, designed to improve the nutritional status of children in public basic schools, will also receive a significant boost.

Proper nutrition is critical for children’s physical and cognitive development, directly influencing their educational performance and overall well-being.

By enhancing the school feeding program, the government aims to combat child hunger and promote better educational outcomes across the country.

In addition, the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) will benefit from the new funding.

The NHIS is a cornerstone of Ghana’s healthcare system, providing essential health services to millions of citizens.

With this infusion of funds, the government aims to strengthen the scheme, ensuring that more people can access quality healthcare without facing financial hardship.

The Finance Minister highlighted the broader economic context within which these social investments are being made.

Despite the challenges posed by global economic uncertainties, he said the government remains committed to prudent fiscal management and strategic investments in social infrastructure.

He acknowledged the economic difficulties but stressed the importance of maintaining fiscal discipline while investing in programs that foster inclusive growth and build a resilient economy.

Dr Amin Adam also shared positive developments in the country’s economic performance, noting that Ghana’s economy grew by 4.7% in the first quarter of the year, surpassing initial projections.

He attributed this growth to effective policy measures and robust economic management.

The Minister highlighted the progress made in stabilising inflation and the exchange rate, which has brought relief to businesses and households.

Improvements in these areas are critical for maintaining economic stability and creating a conducive environment for investment and growth.

Summarising government’s approach, Dr Adam said, “Despite the global economic headwinds, our government remains steadfast in its commitment to fiscal discipline and social investment.

“We believe that strategic spending in social protection programs is crucial for fostering inclusive growth and building a resilient economy.”

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The audit also uncovered wrongful payments to unqualified persons, as well as overspending and poor record-keeping under the management of the LEAP programme, resulting in the country spending more than GH¢15.85 million between 2017 and 2022 on unqualified persons, including the deceased, instead of the real extremely poor and vulnerable people.

These are some of the key findings in the latest performance audit report of the Auditor-General on the management of LEAP, a social protection initiative introduced in 2008 by the government to offer financial assistance in the form of grants to extremely poor and vulnerable households to help alleviate their economic and social distress.

The report also indicted the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) and its agencies such as the LEAP Management Secretariat (LMS) and Social Protection Department (SPD) for their inability to efficiently manage the programme.

However, the LMS has denied all the accusations.

The secretariat said the management had deployed an efficient approach to implement the programme to support the extremely poor and vulnerable households.

Findings

For instance, the report found that the LMS paid cash grants to caregivers of deceased beneficiaries in one-member households, resulting in payments to 44 deceased beneficiaries, amounting to GH¢84,480 and representing 81 per cent of 54 beneficiaries on LEAP books found to have been deceased spanning three months to eight years.

However, the report was categorical that the LMS did not conduct reassessments of LEAP beneficiaries as required to be done every four years to graduate or exit beneficiaries even when their socio-economic statuses had improved.

That led to payments of GH¢396,620 to 170 beneficiaries who no longer qualified to be on the programme because their socio-economic status had improved.

The secretariat also did not adhere to fund utilisation guidelines and for that reason expended more funds on running the programme than allowed, resulting in excess spending of GH¢15.37 million which limits the programme’s ability to enrol more beneficiaries.

In addition, the ministry and SPD failed to keep appropriate records on funds expended under the programme.

The audit team assessed activities of the LMS in ensuring that only eligible beneficiaries were on the programme for the period 2017 to 2022 with a focus on removal of ineligible beneficiaries, graduation of beneficiaries, payment of cash grants to beneficiaries and accounting for expenditure incurred in running the programme.

Deceased beneficiaries

However, when the Daily Graphic contacted the Head of the LEAP Secretariat, Dr Myles Ongoh, in Accra last Tuesday, he totally denied any wrongdoing in the management of the programme.

He explained that, the programme had a well-structured strategy to ensure that deceased beneficiaries were deactivated from its database.

“It was for this reason that we have a case management unit; at the subnational level we have the district social welfare officers who are the frontline workers and so, anytime a beneficiary passes the information is collected and passed on to the respective official for the name of that household to be deactivated,” he said.

Dr Ongoh said as the report captured, if a case was reported, investigated and it was confirmed that a beneficiary in a one-member household had passed away, that household must be quarantined in the LEAP MIS and would no longer be accrued for during subsequent payments.

He stated that within the period of the performance audit, the programme had deactivated 281 deceased persons from its database.

The Head of LEAP Secretariat said the ministry through LMS had started implementing a strategy by dispatching teams during payment to visit homes of one-member households to find out if the eligible beneficiaries were still alive and if they had been receiving the money from the caregivers.

He explained that the strategy would be scaled up across the country to deal with one-member households whose eligible beneficiaries were dead, including the 44 households captured in the report.

Again, he said, the District Social Welfare Officers (DSWOs) and the Community Focal Persons (CFPs) had been tasked to monitor the activities of the beneficiary households and report any beneficiary who passed on to the Case Management Unit of LMS for the necessary investigation and quarantine where necessary.

Graduating beneficiaries

Dr Ongoh further stated that the management of LMS agreed with the findings of the Auditor-General and for that reason had already instituted actions to improve the situation.

He explained that the LMS recognised that the reassessment and recertification were crucial to the sustenance and credibility of the LEAP programme.

“The reassessment was the process of reviewing/evaluating the poverty status of all households on the LEAP programme by obtaining an updated poverty score for the LEAP households to determine which LEAP households are eligible to exit, remain (recertify) or graduate from the programme,” the Head of LEAP stated.

Dr Ongoh explained that such a measure would provide an opportunity to enrol households that had not been on the programme.

He added that per its design, the LEAP programme was expected to undertake reassessment every four years.

“However, the LEAP Management Secretariat and for that matter, the ministry since the inception of the programme in 2008 are unable to undertake this exercise until last year,” he said.

The Head of LEAP stated that the inability to undertake the reassessment was partly due to the associated political and economic issues as well as funding, given that the programme was capital intensive and required adequate liquidity.

Fortunately, Dr Ongoh said in 2022 the ministry granted approval for the secretariat to undertake its first-ever reassessment through a pilot project which ended in January 2023.

The decision to pilot was informed by various factors to learn lessons with regard to gauging public acceptance and anxiety and to inform the cost of a nationwide rollout.

He added that so far, the government had earmarked GH¢35 million for the reassessment of the programme in 44 districts across the country.

Fund utilisation guidelines

The Head of LEAP stated that the management of LEAP had deployed best cost management practices to control cost and to operate within the 10 per cent target.

However, Dr Ongoh said the continuous rise in inflation had caused a general increase in the prices of goods and services over the years, which had adversely impacted the cost of operation of the programme.

He said the operational expenses on payment, monitoring, targeting, enrolment, training, communication and case management had gone up over the period.

Dr Ongoh said despite the increase in the cost operations, the LEAP grant paid to beneficiaries had remained unchanged for the past eight years, rendering the 90 per cent to 10 per cent ratio unattainable.

“This is because, since 2015 the cash grants paid to each LEAP beneficiary has not been adjusted in line with the inflationary rates, while the increasing operational costs to render service for the beneficiaries have increased, thereby making the stated ratio unattainable over time,” he said.

Further, he said, the LEAP programme thrived on constant movement across the country for monitoring, enrolment, communication, training and targeting.

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This was contained in an Audit Report on the management of LEAP released by the Auditor-General’s Department and copied to Parliament.

Out of the figure, GH¢396,620.00 was paid to 170 beneficiaries under the scheme whose socio-economic status had improved, and no longer qualified for the grant.

The report said an amount of GH¢84, 480 was paid to representatives of some 44 deceased beneficiaries.

According to the report, the LEAP Man­agement Secretariat (LMS) did not adhere to fund utilisation guidelines resulting in ex­cess spending of GH¢15,369,309.97 risking the sustainability of the programme.

The audit report recommended the urgent need for the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGSCP) to improve its records-keeping regime to enhance accountability.

It advised that moving forward, “all ac­countants on the LEAP programme main­tain records and report on quarterly basis to the Chief Director on all financial informa­tion related to cash grants and administra­tive cost relevant to the programme.”

Furthermore, it asked the LEAP secre­tariat to consider and review its decision to solely rely on data from the Ghana Nation­al Housing Register (GNHR) to identify beneficiaries but conduct a reassessment to graduate and exit ineligible beneficiaries.

“The LMS should adhere to the LEAP Fund utilisation guidelines during programme implementation to promote sustainability,” the Audi­tor-General urged.

LEAP is a social protection initia­tive implemented by the government to provide cash grants to extremely poor and vulnerable households to alleviate economic and social distress.

Piloted in 2008 and in its 15th year, the programme targets vulnerable groups such as orphaned and vulner­able children, breastfeeding mothers, old people and people with severe disabilities by providing bi-monthly cash payments to eligible households in various districts across the country.

As at the end of December 2020, a total of 335,015 extremely poor households across 259 districts have been enrolled onto the programme.

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In a press release, the Ministry said both the 85th and 86th cycles of the programme will be jointly paid to beneficiaries.

“As a result of the joint payment, households with one eligible member will receive GH¢256.00; two eligible member households will receive GH¢304.00.

“Three eligible member households will receive GH¢352.00, and a household with four or more eligible members will receive GH¢424 00,” the release read in parts.

Introduced in 2008, LEAP is a cash transfer programme for people in extreme poverty that is aimed at reducing poverty by increasing and smoothing consumption and promoting access to services and opportunities among the extremely poor and vulnerable.

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Read the statement below:

Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta emphasized the government’s commitment to fortifying social protection by bolstering social spending.

This proactive approach aims to shield the most vulnerable and impoverished members of society from the potential impacts of adjustments implemented under the program.

To facilitate this ambitious endeavor, the 2023 Budget outlines specific provisions to double the monthly LEAP payment per household beneficiary, increasing it from ¢45 to ¢90.

Concurrently, there will be a gradual expansion in the number of households benefitting from the program, surpassing the current figure of 344,185 households.

In addition to these measures, Mr. Ofori-Atta unveiled plans to augment the budgetary allocation for the School Feeding Programme.

This adjustment is intended to compensate for the rising cost of meals while ensuring more effective management of the program.

Furthermore, the government is set to incrementally increase the Capitation Grant as part of its comprehensive strategy to enhance foundational learning, thereby fostering better educational outcomes.

The government, according to her, is also planning to expand the School Feeding Programme to cover all children enrolled in public schools from Kindergarten to primary six.

Madam Frema Opare announced this when she gave a lecture at the Great Hall of the University of Ghana, Legon, on Social Protection in Ghana.

She said Ghana is steadily working towards a comprehensive and universal social protection programme which is a requisite safeguard to sustainable development. The Chief of Staff said the social protection agenda of the Akufo-Addo administration will ensure that no one who ought to benefit from same is left out.

Ghana’s National Social Protection Policy defines social protection as “a range of actions carried out by the state and other parties in response to vulnerability and poverty, which seek to guarantee relief for those sections of the population who for any reason are not able to provide for themselves.”

Ghana’s Social Protection story, according to the Chief of Staff, “has been an evolving system, which has steadily increased its scale and functionalities over time”, the evidence of which is in a “number of relevant social protection programmes that have clear benefits for the poor and vulnerable” in Ghana.

Madam Osei-Opare added “the country through President Akufo-Addo’s government, is “pursuing a strong social protection agenda for the vulnerable that increasingly guarantees provision for good healthcare, education, poverty alleviation and support for persons with disability.”

She enumerated some policies stressing “we have broken the barriers to basic education for all through the introduction of the capitation grant by the Kufuor administration in 2003. We have broken the barriers to secondary education for all through the Free SHS programme by the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo administration from 2017.”

“Now, children, pregnant women, nursing mothers can receive good healthcare through the Free Maternal Child healthcare policy introduced in 2008 by the Kufuor Administration. Now, a person with disability knows that government would provide opportunity for education, social participation, and economic empowerment opportunities through the operationalisation of the PWD 2006, Act 715 and the DACF support,” the Chief of Staff said.

She noted that “many households in extreme poor conditions can have access to a comprehensive social support including cash grant to support consumption through LEAP as introduced in 2008, good healthcare for the indigents through the NHIS as introduced in 2003.

“Most children in public schools now receive one hot meal a day and through the commitment of our President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo we can look forward to the very near future where every child who goes to a public school would be fed through the school feeding programme.”

As government vigorously pursues its social protection agenda, to make it universal, she called on the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection to increase the pace of completing the Social Protection Bill for it to be passed into law; further urging the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection “to convene a national social protection dialogue, of all key stakeholders in order to identify sustainable financing mechanisms, generate stakeholder commitment, explore sustainable public-private partnerships and to unlock innovative ideas to tighten the delivery of Ghana’s social protection agenda so that nobody is left out.”

The Chief of Staff said the government is also pursuing a strong social protection agenda for the vulnerable that will guarantee provision for good healthcare, education, poverty alleviation, and support for persons with disability.

The lecture was attended by Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, Greater Accra Regional Minister Henry Quartey, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Professor Nana Aba Appiah Amfo and Chairman of the University of Ghana Alumni Association (UGAA) Richard Obeng Okrah, among others.

The Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme is a cash transfer for the extremely poor and vulnerable households in Ghana.

The programme aims to reduce poverty by smoothing consumption and promoting human capital development among extremely poor households.

It is expected that the LEAP cash grants and promotion of access to services and opportunities for these extremely poor households would help them meet their basic needs.

“The essence of the money is to be a cushion for these vulnerable households. They know how best to utilise the monies and they should pray for government to always secure the funds to come to their aid,” she said.

The Minister expressed satisfaction at the disbursement, and said due to the digitisation of the process, it had been smooth and the recipients had shown a lot of satisfaction.

“The process is smooth and orderly. It is a very good policy to help the extremely poor and vulnerable households and government needs to be commended for continuing it, because but for some of these amounts people will go to bed hungry,” she added.

Mr Colson Akambasiam, the Head of Communication, LEAP Management Secretariat, said the programme was one of the flagship social protection initiatives of government that provided a bi-monthly social cash transfer to 344,024 eligible extremely poor and vulnerable households nationwide.

The current disbursement is for the 73rd and 74th cycle payment and beneficiaries are receiving double their bimonthly grant.

“In Greater Accra 10,861 households are benefiting from the programme. For the Ga North District, 112 households are benefiting from 10 communities. Then in the Amamorley Community, 32 households are benefiting,” he said.

Mr Akambasiam said the grant was given to households based on the number of vulnerable people there.

One person receives ₵64.00, two receive ₵74.00, three ₵88.00, and four and above ₵106.00.

“LEAP beneficiaries are categorised into five groups – Orphans and vulnerable children; Persons with severe disability; The aged, who are 65 and above; Extremely poor pregnant women, and Infants under one year,” he said.

Some of the beneficiaries expressed appreciation to government for the support over the past eight-year, saying the monies had gone a long way to help them cater for their families.

The communities visited included Amamorley, Asofan, Fise, Amanfrom and Pokuase.

June 3, in the nation’s archives, disaster hit the Circle Interchange in Accra as gas explosion consumed hundreds of Ghanaian citizenry.

As the country commemorates June 3, Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Otiko Afisah Djaba has paid a tribute to affected families.

Hon. Otiko Djaba pledged government’s support for the affected families with their emergency leap program.

“Today marks two years of total depression that hit the nation. The wounds and scars are still indelible in our minds and heart. As the nation still mourn in remembrance, let us reach out to the affected families with love, condolence and support. As Government, we will continue to support the affected families with our emergency LEAP program”, Hon. Otiko Djaba expressed.

They told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on the sideline of a public forum on using access to information to promote citizens’ involvement and feedback on the LEAP programme that the amount was small considering the current economic situation in the country.

With support from the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), through Commonwealth Human Right Initiative, non-governmental organisations, the Save Environment Foundation organised the forum at Breme, near Bechem on Friday.

The LEAP programme was developed by the government in 2008 as a flagship National Protection Strategy programme to empower extremely poor population.

It is a cash transfer programme for the poorest and the most vulnerable households with particular emphasis on those with orphans and vulnerable children, the elderly and severely disabled persons.

According to the beneficiaries, since they were enrolled to enjoy the LEAP programme in 2015, there had been significant improvement in their standard of living, and expressed the optimism that the government would strengthen the programme to benefit more vulnerable people.

Madam Akosua Asor, a caregiver observed that deserving poor and vulnerable people in the local communities were not enjoying from the programme.

Mr Samuel Kyeremeh, the District Director of the Department of Social Welfare explained that 267 beneficiaries in 12 communities were placed under the programme.

He expressed concern about the incidence of child labour and exploitation in the area, and warned that culprits would be prosecuted.

Mr Kyeremeh indicated that the implementation of the LEAP programme was devoid of partisan considerations, adding that registration would be re-opened, and advised qualified people to re-register to benefit. enjoyed.

He explained that payments were disbursed to the beneficiaries six times in a year within two month interval and monies paid ranged between Ghȼ64.00, Ghȼ76.00, Ghȼ88.00, Ghȼ106.00 depending on the number of beneficiaries in a particular household.

Mr Kyeremeh advised the beneficiaries to ensure judicious use of the money, and asked those who could go into economic activities to do so to better their lot.

Mr Collins Osei, the Executive Director of the Save Environment Foundation, expressed concern about low public education on government’s poverty intervention policies and programmes in local communities.

He called on the government to adequately resource the Department of Social Welfare, National Commission for Civic Education and the Information Services Department to carry on with their constitutional mandates.

Mr Osei also called on Parliament to facilitate the passage of the Right to Information Bill.

Nana Boakye Yiadom Amankwaa, Chief of Breme, noted that the LEAP programme was a laudable concept and entreated the government to strengthen it.

He said there were other communities in the district, which deserved to benefit from the programme, and appealed to the institutions in-charge to extend it to those localities.

Nana Boakye also added his voice on the call for the passage of the Right to Information Bill, saying because there was no Legal Instrument it was always difficult to seek certain information from the District Assembly and other public institutions.