Nana Oye Lithur, Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection
Policy think tank, IMANI-Ghana, has called for the review of the Ghana Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme from its current state which makes the recipients perpetual dependents, to a scheme that steers them towards becoming self-reliant.
LEAP is a social cash transfer program which provides cash and health insurance to extremely poor households across Ghana to alleviate short-term poverty and encourage long-term human capital development.
The programme, which started in 2008 with 21 districts and covered some 1,654 beneficiary households, has grown to 100 districts with 77,006 households benefitting as of 2014.
This is to be scaled up to 150,000 household beneficiaries by the end of 2015.
The beneficiaries have praised the programme for the relief it has brought them.
But IMANI Ghana has said that is not surprising because ‘free’ money, no matter the value, improves the condition of the recipient to some extent.
According to the think tank, for a growing economy like Ghana, it must not settle for mediocrity.
“The easy part of handing out money has been done. Ayekoo LEAP! It is now time for the hard work of learning to stand on one’s feet.”
It stated in a review on LEAP dubbed “IMANI’s Initial Verdict on LEAP and what can be done to get value for money” which was published on its website.
It urged the need for the programme to be “viewed as an incubator, one that shelters individuals for a while, before releasing them to stand on their own feet.”
The group is envisaging a situation where the LEAP programme matures into one that develops taxpaying and tax making members of the society.
“It is only then that the country will truly eradicate poverty,” it observed and contended that protecting the vulnerable groups in society was a mandate of any caring government.
IMANAI Ghana added that to achieve better value for money LEAP must be executed within the context of the nation’s macro policies and within the context of job creation; diversification of exports; development of infrastructure; roads, electricity, water, among others.
It said LEAP and other capacity building interventions and skills training should steer beneficiaries into these areas for macro-economic growth and sustainability, noting that this approach is a more permanent way of narrowing the poverty gap in the country than just doling out cash.
On sustainability, the reviewer, Maud Martei, Head of Gender and Social Protection issues and also deputy Head of Research at IMANI, pointed out that LEAP seems not to have a plan.
Making a comparison with a similar social intervention programmes in the United States, she indicated that where some social protection schemes are short-term cash transfer programs to steer people into jobs, such programs required beneficiaries to upgrade their education if necessary and apply to a certain number of jobs each week.
The cash transfers, it added, are not intended to be a lifetime benefit as such it delivers value for money, and also empowers the beneficiary to break out of the cycle of poverty.
“Unfortunately LEAP does not come with similar sustainability measures. This is an inexcusable lapse in the program design,” it noted.
“Furthermore, the report by IMANI indicated that no clear steering policy document exists for the program. LEAP is referenced as part of the National Social Protection Strategy and by the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda.
However, these documents do not address the crucial elements of long-term sustainability and proper targeting as well as indicators and measures of success. So far, the key measure of progress is a ballooning number of beneficiaries.”
Though IMANI welcomed the growth of LEAP in terms of coverage, it warned that if the economic situations of the targeted needy groups do not change, the government will be saddled with supporting the beneficiaries indefinitely.
It observed that consistently LEAP targets have not been met and hypothesized that unavailability of funds may have resulted in the failure to meet set targets.
It therefore urged the programme to be properly targeted in order to attain the desired objective
