The expansion of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme in the Jirapa Municipality is bringing renewed hope to thousands of vulnerable households struggling to meet their basic needs.

Among the new beneficiaries is 52-year-old Augustine Tang, a farmer from Tugo whose life changed after suffering a stroke that left him unable to work and provide for his family.

Mr Tang, who is responsible for his children and ageing parents, said the support would ease some of the financial pressure on his household.

“I’m now the landlord [head of the family], but I can’t do anything,” he said after completing his biometric registration.

“It can benefit me in many ways. To take care of my ageing people and my children. Now this LEAP can help me a lot,” he added.

Mr Tang is one of 4,372 new beneficiaries added to the programme in the municipality following a fresh enumeration exercise.

The expansion has increased the number of LEAP beneficiaries in Jirapa from 2,553 to 6,932.

Jirapa Municipal Chief Executive, Peter N. N. To-ang, who monitored the zonal registration exercise at the Municipal Assembly forecourt, described the increase as a major boost for vulnerable households.

“If you look at it, the current numbers against the last numbers, we have an increment of 4,372, which is good news for Jirapa,” he said.

Mr To-ang said many of the beneficiaries struggle to afford basic necessities, including food.

“You see them sitting here; most of them cannot afford the three meals that you and I can afford a day. So if these monies are given to them, I am very sure that it will go a long way to help them and their families,” he said.

Independent enumeration to improve targeting

The enumeration exercise was carried out by an independent private entity, with local political structures excluded from the process in an effort to improve transparency and ensure that the support reaches those most in need.

Member of Parliament for Jirapa, Cletus Seidu Dapilah, said the vetting process was designed to identify households that genuinely met the programme’s eligibility criteria.

“If your son or your daughter is a nurse or a teacher, you cannot say you are poor. Or you can talk about you yourself owning about 20 goats, 20 sheep, a number of fowls; you cannot say you are poor,” he explained.

“These are the pertinent questions they ask in order to actually identify who actually is in need and who should benefit from this package,” he added.

Mr Dapilah also addressed concerns about the presence of able-bodied young people at the registration centre.

He explained that many of them were relatives assisting elderly and frail family members to reach the centre and complete the enrolment process, rather than attempting to register as beneficiaries themselves.

Calls for further expansion

Despite the significant increase in beneficiary numbers, local leaders say more vulnerable households remain outside the programme.

Both the MCE and the MP are therefore calling for a mop-up enumeration exercise to identify additional eligible households and potentially increase the number of beneficiaries beyond 7,000.

“We only ask government to add or increase the numbers,” Mr Dapilah said.

He disclosed that he had formally petitioned the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection for further expansion.

“I’m sure very soon they will send a team to come and do more enumeration so that more people can be hooked into the system,” he added.

Registration is continuing on a community-by-community basis as officials work to enrol the newly identified beneficiaries.

For residents such as Augustine Tang, the expansion of LEAP offers more than financial assistance. It provides some relief for households struggling with poverty and the uncertainty of meeting their most basic daily needs.