The Sissala East Municipal Assembly has commenced a large-scale validation exercise for the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme, with officials announcing a significant expansion that has seen the number of beneficiary households triple to more than 12,000 in the municipality.

Currently, 7,250 beneficiaries are undergoing validation at the Municipal Assembly in Tumu ahead of the next cash disbursement.

The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Sissala East, Adamu Yakubu, commended the government for expanding the social intervention programme to cover more vulnerable households.

"You can testify that we have actually had our numbers tripled within the municipality. We were doing just around 2,000 and today we are around 12,000," he said, expressing optimism that the funds would enable poor households to afford daily meals, support small businesses and pay school fees.

Officials also used the opportunity to address public concerns about the physical appearance of some individuals participating in the exercise. Both the MCE and Social Welfare authorities explained that many of the energetic young people present were caregivers representing beneficiaries who were unable to travel to the validation centre.

"If you go to their households or their homes, you will see that there is a very old person, a person who is struggling to be able to get three meals a day sitting down there," Mr Yakubu explained.

Echoing the MCE's remarks, the Social Welfare Officer in charge of LEAP in the municipality, Nuhu Alhassan, stressed that the programme is intended for orphans, vulnerable children, persons with disabilities and older persons.

"You see somebody signing, very energetic, you think that is the fellow who is going to use the money directly. No, we call them caregivers," Mr Alhassan said.

He explained that the caregivers collect the funds solely on behalf of the eligible vulnerable beneficiaries in their households and are not the direct recipients of the support.

Mr Alhassan also dismissed claims that the selection process was politically motivated, stressing that the beneficiary data was compiled independently by the Ghana National Household Registry.

"The selection wasn't done along political lines. Never, please. Every Ghanaian is a Ghanaian. As far as you have qualified to be part of LEAP, you have been included," he said.

With the validation exercise underway, authorities assured beneficiaries that the payment phase would begin soon, bringing much-needed financial relief to vulnerable households across the Sissala East Municipality.