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Don’t delay payment of LEAP grants to beneficiaries – SEND Ghana
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The Deputy Director of SEND Ghana, Dr. Emmanuel Ayifah, has appealed to the government not to delay the payment of cash grants to beneficiaries under the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme.
He said the “consistent delay” in payment of the grant was worsening the plight of the beneficiaries hence government must take urgent steps to settle all arrears for 2021.
Dr. Ayifah, speaking in an interview with The Spectator, said there were delays in payment of the grant in January 2021 and that payments starting from April to August 2021 were still in arrears.
He said that, as a result of the delay in payment, some beneficiaries had resorted to borrowing, which was not “appropriate considering the financial standing of these vulnerable persons.”
“In 2019, SEND Ghana made a similar appeal to the government to pay the beneficiaries on time and our call was heard but, unfortunately, this same trend is occurring this year.
“The GH¢ 64 paid per household is already insufficient and the delay is worsening their plight. Some of them continue to live on the benevolence of others and this is a problem,” he noted.
For effective social protection delivery, Dr. Ayifah said government should, in the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy, consider establishing a fund to support and sustain social protection programmes.
“Apart from LEAP, it is important to provide funding for other social protection programmes in general. When the fund is established, other persons in the private sector may contribute to it just as they did for the COVID-19 fund,” he added.
Dr. Ayifah again identified lack of comprehensive data as one of the reasons social interventions did not reach “the right beneficiaries.”
He said available data indicated that there were 2.7 million extremely poor persons in the country but beneficiaries of social intervention policies such as LEAP were fewer than this figure.
He, therefore, urged the government to “focus on completing the Ghana National Household Registry” so there would be a comprehensive data on the number of poor persons in the country.
“Only five out of the 16 regions have complete data in the Registry. This means we are left with a lot more to be done,” he said.
SEND Ghana wants the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection to fast-track passage of the social protection bill so that issues regarding social interventions and social protection could be effectively managed.
By Ernest Nutsugah
The Diaspora Affairs Office of the President (DAOOP) will on Friday, September 18, 2026, host the inaugural Ghana Diaspora Townhall Meeting at the Christiansborg Castle, Osu, Accra.
The meeting, scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m. is being held under the theme “Listening Today, Building Tomorrow: Strengthening Ghana’s Partnership with the Diaspora.”
According to a statement from DAOOP issued on September 17, the Townhall will serve as an annual platform for structured dialogue between the Government of Ghana and the Ghanaian and wider African Diaspora.
It is aimed at providing a dedicated platform for members of the Diaspora to share their experiences, concerns, aspirations and recommendations directly with government institutions, while also reviewing progress in implementing Ghana’s Diaspora Engagement Policy.
About 500 participants are expected, including representatives of Diaspora organisations, Ghanaians living abroad and those who have returned, members of the wider African Diaspora resident in Ghana, government institutions, private sector organisations, civil society, academia, traditional authorities and development partners.
The programme will feature nine thematic listening sessions where participants will engage directly with responsible ministries, departments and agencies.
The sessions will cover citizenship, immigration, residency and national identification; property and real estate; tourism, culture and heritage; business registration and investment; employment, skills and knowledge transfer; diaspora engagement, representation and integration; education, academia and youth engagement; infrastructure and public services; and health and safety.
The themes were drawn from a survey circulated among registered participants ahead of the meeting. Proceedings will be chaired by the Chief Director of the Office of the President, Alhaji Dr Abubakari Wayo.
DAOOP said the inaugural meeting is being held in the week of Founder’s Day, marked on Monday, September 21, reflecting Ghana’s Pan-African tradition and its historical relationship with Africans and people of African descent around the world.
The Townhall will close with the presentation and adoption of key recommendations and priority actions for 2026 and 2027, which will inform an institutional action matrix to support continued engagement and follow-up.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
News
Mahama chairs security meeting over drug trafficking, orders formation of inter-agency task force
President John Dramani Mahama today chaired a meeting of security chiefs and received a detailed briefing on investigations into the recent trafficking of drugs out of Ghana’s ports.
The President was informed that ten individuals, including four officers of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), are being held while investigations continue.
The meeting reviewed the structure and security systems in place and recommended new actions.
President Mahama has directed that an inter-agency task force be formed to present a detailed roadmap, emanating from today’s meeting, on measures to prevent the trafficking of drugs through Ghana’s borders within two weeks.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
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