Atebubu-Amantin Municipal LEAP Implementation Committee engages Community Focal Persons

The Atebubu-Amantin Municipal Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) Implementation Committee (MLIC) has engaged 55 community focal persons as part of preparations for a nationwide reassessment of the programme.

LEAP is a bi-monthly cash transfer grant aimed at supporting poor and vulnerable households, introduced in Ghana in 2008 to reduce poverty and build human capital.

According to Mr. Emmanuel Bukari, the District Liaison Officer for the project, one key protocol of the programme is a quadrennial reassessment, which has not been conducted since inception due to various reasons.

He explained that the exercise is necessary to identify and determine the poverty status and eligibility of households that should benefit from the programme, reduce inclusion and exclusion errors, and improve efficiency in budget allocation to the most vulnerable households.

Mr. Bukari, who is also the municipal head of the Department of Social Welfare and Community Development, indicated that the exercise will help update the beneficiary register, identify households that are no longer eligible for LEAP and link them to other complementary services and support. Additionally, it will enhance transparency, consistency, and fairness by providing an even playing field for all extremely poor households to enroll in the programme.

Touching on the eligibility criteria, he said extremely poor households on the existing register will remain, while households classified as poor will graduate from the programme with some one-off assistance to help them become self-supporting. Households found to be non-poor will be exited from the programme to make room for new beneficiaries.

Mr. Bukari took the focal persons through the pilot phase of the exercise, lessons learned, and key activities and pathways for the upcoming reassessment.

Participants raised questions about issues concerning them, which were addressed, and they shared experiences and made suggestions for a successful exercise.

Closing the meeting, Mr. Joseph K.B. Tang, the Atebubu-Amantin Municipal Coordinating Director and chairman of the MLIC, acknowledged the key role of the focal persons in the success of the exercise.

He thanked them for their voluntary spirit, which has enabled the programme to thrive, and urged them to avoid politicizing the exercise, as this could derail the progress made so far.

Also present were Messrs. Abdul Aziz Toyibu, Municipal Planning Officer; Joel Apambila Kassim, Municipal Statistician; Edward Garr Newlove, Assistant Social Development Officer; and Daniel Oduro-Stewart, Municipal Information Officer, all members of the committee.