Bolgatanga, Feb.3, GNA – The Department of Social Welfare and its stakeholders have identified 3,420 potential households in the Bolgatanga Municipality as eligible beneficiaries of the Livelihood against Poverty (LEAP) programme.
The households are, however, yet to be registered onto the LEAP and are waiting anxiously to know when they would start receiving the support.
Meanwhile 1,823 beneficiaries from 1,154 households have received a total of GHC311,496.00 in two payment cycles from April to August 2021 in the 70th and 71st cycles of payment, respectively.
Ms Mercy Pwawra, the Municipal Director of the Department of Social Welfare, who made this known to the Ghana News Agency in Bolgatanga, said disbursement for September to December 2021 was in arrears, and would soon be paid.
She said the implementation of the programme had been smooth despite the COVID-19 challenges as the Department had been able to pay beneficiaries without interruption since 2020.
In 2020, GHC11,000 was disbursed to 158 beneficiaries in the Municipality for the 68th and 69th cycle of payments.
“Since the inception of the LEAP in 2010, interventions for the poor and vulnerable have been successful and in 2017 alone, 292 beneficiaries received a total of GHC 22,000 in the 47th LEAP payment cycle,” she added.
According to the Municipal Director, despite the successes, inadequate budget allocation for implementation of the programme was affecting monitoring of activities.
She called for a reliable means of transport to help in making follow ups and payments.
The LEAP is a flagship programme of the national social protection strategy, targeted at the vulnerable and extremely poor and more than 1.5 million Ghanaians depend on it for their daily sustenance, according to SEND-Ghana reports.
GNA