Beneficiaries of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty Programme (LEAP) in 185 districts in the country will now receive their monies on their e-zwich cards – up from the initial 13 districts.

It follows an agreement between the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection and the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS).

LEAP was developed by the government of Ghana in 2008 as a flagship National Protection Strategy programme to empower extremely poor populations in the country.

Speaking at the signing ceremony the Gender Minister Nana Oye Lithur said paying beneficiaries through e-zwich will ensure that only the rightful beneficiary receive the monies.

Nana Oye Lithur

She said it also helps with reconciliation of payments, transparency, and the flexibility for beneficiaries to save part of their monies on the card, compared to cash payments.

On his part, the Chief  Executive of GhIPSS Archie Hesse said they would work with Rural Banks to deploy POSes so that beneficiaries can use their e-zwich cards to show. He said GhIPSS will ensure a smooth e-zwich services to the LEAP beneficiaries.

The LEAP initiative currently has 144,980 beneficiaries and this number is expected to be increased by 50,000 in January next year.