Leap Rolls Out Electronic Platforms for Cash Hand Outs

By Cecil MENSAH

Managers of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme, a poverty alleviation support initiative under the Ministry of Gender and Social Protection, have introduced an electronic payment system for the disbursement of funds.

The electronic platform will now serve as an account for all LEAP beneficiaries across the country, according to managers of the programme.

This means disbursement of funds for the next quarter will be done through mobile money, the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems Limited (GhIPSS) and e-zwich platforms.

Currently, four categories of persons qualify to benefit. These are people with severe disabilities, orphans, the aged and pregnant women with babies under a year old.

Mr. Thomas Boateng Quainoo, Head of Monitoring and Evaluation at LEAP, said in 2008 to 2013 the programme released funds to the beneficiaries through the Post Office system.

"In 2016, the Ministry has rolled out the electronic platforms and these platforms will serve as an account for beneficiaries and they can access their accounts anywhere they are unlike the Post Office systems" which was restricted to their area of habitation, he added.

According to him, 259,000 households have qualified for the programme and it is estimation of the programme that 95,000 individuals will be brought into the LEAP net this year.

Mr. Quainoo made this disclosure recently at Penplusbytes' National Multi-Stakeholders Policy Advocacy Forum dubbed 'Tec Driven Social Accountability for Results' in Accra and supported by Centre for Democratic Development and SEND -Ghana

The project was to prevail on Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to use social media to ensure duty bearers are accountable to the people.

On his part, Jerry Sam, the Director of Penplusbytes, said the 'Tec Driven Social Accountability for Results' was a programme piloted in two selected districts in Greater Accra and Western regions and funded by Open Society Initiative for West Africa(OSIWA) for a period of 24 months.

According to him, the project is defined as an approach towards building accountability that relies on civic engagements, where the ordinary citizen can participate in.

He explained that the project remains a key strategy in empowering citizens and communities in making governments more accountable and by closing the gap between what citizens want and don't want.

Kwami Ahiabenu II, the Executive Director of Penplusbytes, explained that when policies are crafted with the inputs of the citizenry in mind it serves them better

He said doing business is not like governance because doing business is authoritarian but governance must have the inputs of the governed.

He say LEAP must be designed as a national policy to cushion the poor and vulnerable in the society and not a cash hand-out that will make able persons rest at home instead of working.

Read Full Story