The Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment will this morning start the third payments to beneficiaries of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme.

LEAP is a social intervention policy introduced by the government in March, to provide financial assistance to the extremely poor, the severely disabled and the elderly poor above the age of 65.

It is also aimed at enabling the vulnerable and the extremely poor to send their wards to school to benefit from other social interventions, such as the capitation grant and also pay for their National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) premiums, introduced by the government to bridge the divide between the rich and the poor.

In all, 2,903 households in the 21 implementing districts nationwide will share close to GH¢79,000 earmarked for the third payment.

Lawrence Ofori-Addo, Assistant Director of the Department of Social Welfare in charge of LEAP, told the Times that 33 new districts will be added to the 21already benefiting from the programme. This will increase the beneficiary districts to 54.

He mentioned some of the new districts as: North Tongu, Jasikan, Nkwanta and Keta, all in the Volta region; Ga East Municipal Assembly and Chorkor in the Accra Metropolitan Assembly in the Greater Accra Region; Swedru, Cape Coast Municipal Assembly, Assin North, Odoben/Asikuma/Brakwa and Ajumako in the Central Region.

The rest are Nzema East, Ellembelle and Ahanta West in the West Region; Asante Akim North and Amansie West in the Ashanti Region.

He said Eastern Region has seven beneficiary districts, the highest due to the large number of orphans in the region because of the high HIV/AIDS prevalence in the area.

Beneficiaries are paid between GH¢8.00 to GH¢15.00 depending on the number of eligible persons in the household.

Mr Ofori-Addo said although the LEAP benefit is monthly, it is paid every two months through the Ghana Post to the beneficiaries.

Mr Ofori-Addo explained that due to last year's floods which destroyed farmlands in the three northern regions coupled with the current world food crisis, the government in collaboration with the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Bank is designing a short term LEAP in addition to the current one for the three regions in the north and a few districts down south.

The short term LEAP which will begin in two weeks will last for seven months.

"The team is already in the region collection data for this programme," he said, adding that the two organizations are supporting it with $3 million.

He said the short-term LEAP would take care of mainly beneficiary basic needs and also pay for their NHIS premiums.

Source: Kwadwo B. Donkor - The Ghanaian Times