The government will pay GH₵265,220,000.00 to households under the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme, effective March 24, 2025.

The Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Dr Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, stated that 350,000 households to receive the support are in 260 Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs).

The joint disbursement is for the 94th (November - December 2024) and 95th (January – February 2025) cycles of the LEAP payments, which would be made by the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GHIPSS) to the beneficiaries’ E-Zwich accounts.  

The Minister made this known at a press conference in Accra on Friday, March 21, to update the media on the LEAP grant payments.  

LEAP is a cash transfer programme, introduced by the Government in 2008, for extremely poor and vulnerable households to reduce poverty and promote access to services and opportunities.  

The criteria for eligibility are households with orphans and vulnerable children, the aged/elderly (65 years and above) without support; persons with severe disability who cannot easily work, and extremely poor pregnant women and lactating mothers with infants under one year.  

Dr Lartey said one eligible member household would receive GH₵512.00, two-member households would receive GH₵608.00, three-member households, GH₵704.00, and four-member households, GH₵848.00.  

She advised the beneficiaries to make judicious use of the support to enhance their overall well-being, meeting immediate consumption needs and securing their future investment goals.  

Beneficiaries are expected to prioritise essential areas such as household nutrition, children’s education, and income-generating activities.   

By adopting those positive financial and social practices, LEAP households would contribute to the programme’s objective of reducing poverty and vulnerability through sustained consumption support,’’ the Minister stated.  

She acknowledged that not all households could remain on the programme indefinitely and there might also be the need for new households to be added.  

Hence, the Ministry, she said, had started a comprehensive reassessment of all beneficiary households to evaluate their continued eligibility with its results determining the households to remain or graduate from the programme, and the addition of new ones.  

Dr Lartey called on stakeholders to support the LEAP reassessment.  

She said the Ghana National Households Registry (GNHR), under the Ministry, was also expected to complete its ongoing households’ registration soon, the report on which would assist in better targeting of households to be included.  

‘‘We take the opportunity to thank His Excellency John Dramani Mahama for fulfilling his commitment to reducing poverty and vulnerability of Ghanaians by increasing the number of beneficiary households from 350,000 to 400,000 in the budget statement and economic policy for the 2025 financial year,’’ Dr Lartey said.   

The Minister said the President, through the Ministry of Finance, increased the allocation for LEAP benefit from GH₵728.8 million to GH₵953.5 million.   

She encouraged the citizenry to assist the Ministry to enhance transparency and accountability by engaging them with suggestions and reporting ‘anything untoward’ that would disrupt the set objectives of the programme.  

‘‘I want to thank our partners: The World Bank, UNICEF, the World Food Programme and Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office for their continuous support of the LEAP.”  

“We are open and still working for more partnerships to help address the gaps in the coverage of the programme,’’ she added.