Grants given to beneficiaries of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty have been increased, Chief Director of the Ministry of Gender, Child and social protection, Mr. Kwesi Arhmoh Himbson has disclosed.
He made this disclosure when he was on a policy monitoring visit to the Upper East region specifically Beo and Saporo in the Bongo district including Bugla/Tabre and Buluik in the Bawku West District to monitor the disbursement of the funds.
He mentioned that with a house of one person, the amount has increased from the sum of Forty-eight cedis to Sixty cedis, two persons occupying a household has also increased to an amount of Seventy-Six cedis whereas four persons in a household has also increased to One Hundred and Six Ghana cedis.
Mr. Arhmoh also disclosed that there has been a new addition to the LEAP initiative which is the LEAP 1000 which will cater for the needs of pregnant and lactating mothers with children less than two years.
He intimated that people who are already enrolled under the LEAP program do not qualify to switch to the LEAP 1000.
He however noted that over the years, people who benefit from such social intervention initiatives like this, do not use the monies for the purpose for which they were given them.
He implored beneficiaries of the LEAP 1000 to use the monies for the purpose for which they were given to them.
“This LEAP 1000 is an initiative introduced by the ministry to provide funds for pregnant women and lactating mothers so that they go through the obstetric period without complications and ensure a safer delivery. This is also our small way of fighting malnourishment in Children and also decreasing child mortality in the country.”
He maintained that there will be sanity in the payment process because various security measures have been taken to ensure that officials do not take the monies to satisfy their whimsical interest.
He indicated that the ministry has plans in the offing to migrate to electronic payment by next year where all human interventions will be avoided in the payment process.
“We want to remove human intervention as much as possible. We are hoping by 2016, beneficiaries will be getting their grants through electronic paying, like on their phones so they can just go to a vendor for their cash.”
Seventy years old Atanga Abugdoo, a beneficiary of the LEAP initiative who spoke to a1radioonline.com was full of praise for the government for expanding the initiative and increasing their grants. She mentioned that hither to, eating a three square meal was a problem for her but the introduction of this initiative has lessened her woes. She however called on government to sustain the initiative and not make it a nine day wonder.
Abeo Beatrice, a caretaker also mentioned that the initiative has changed the story of her family. She explained that her family has seen some improvement in agriculture because they can now buy groundnut seeds and sow during the rainy season which was not the case some years ago. She added that the poor can now replace school uniforms for their children and also buy books for them to facilitate their academic work which was not the case prior to the introduction of this intiative.
Assemblyman for the Beo-Dusublgo, Agambire Charles alluded to the opinions of the beneficiaries but called on the government to provide employment for the caretakers who will work to cater for the aged and also help alleviate poverty which the area is stricken with.
By: Offei-Akoto Ayeh | A1RADIOONLINE.com | GHANA
